


The Road to Recovery

by Shameless_Writer



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Male Character, But it'll all be worth it I swear, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Gay Male Character, Get in loser we're changing canon, Hurt/Comfort, I guess???, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Injury Recovery, Look man there's going to be a lot of angst in this, Major Character Injury, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Physical Therapy, Psychological Trauma, Slow Burn, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Unrequited Love, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:02:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27250006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shameless_Writer/pseuds/Shameless_Writer
Summary: What if Steve found out about Jim’s secret life about magic and trolls differently, and became a part of his team? But in the worst way possible.
Relationships: Jim Lake Jr./Steve Palchuk
Comments: 13
Kudos: 60





	1. Stick and Stones Shall Break My Bones

Steve repeatedly tapped both ends of the pencil he was holding onto the desk, his boredom consuming him more and more as the class continued. The words coming out of the teacher’s mouth would quickly be a distant memory from the bully. Steve glanced at the classroom, some students were as bored as him, while others had their complete focus on the subject. **  
**

One student, in particular, caught his interest; Jim Lake Jr. was staring with an intense distaste at the paper at his desk, presumably where he was taking notes. The bully saw how Lake's eyes fluttered and how his head slowly moved back and forth. Steve chuckled and watched in amusement as Lake dozed off and had his face slam headfirst onto the desk. 

The whole classroom turned their attention to Lake, including the teacher, and laughed as he quickly woke and sat up straight. 

Mrs. Janet, clearly not happy, spoke. “Mr. Lake, do you know how many times you’ve disrupted my class over the current school year?” 

Lake turned red from embarrassment, avoiding eye contact from anyone in the room. “Uhh, I don’t kno-”

“Too many, I’ve tried my best to excuse it, but frankly I can no longer do that. After school, you shall serve two hours of detention.” 

Steve was surprised that Lake didn’t do anything to defend himself, he simply sighed and rubbed his face in frustration. As if the student sitting across the classroom didn’t have any fight in him. It was only when the class was over that Steve realized that he’d have to be stuck with Lake for two hours since he was given detention as well.

Throughout the school period, Steve silently dreaded the thought of going to detention, but it wasn't as if he could skip it without getting into more trouble than he already was in. 

When the school was over, the bully made his way to Mr. Uhl’s class. There were a few students already inside, but Lake was yet to appear. Steve mindlessly took a seat and began doing some homework that he was behind. It only took a few minutes for Lake to show up. He just quickly walked around the classroom and sat right behind Steve. 

“Great.” He thought bitterly. 

Out of all the desks Lake could’ve chosen, he chose that one. It’s as if he wanted to annoy Steve. The bully now had an anxious feeling that Lake was being nosey and glancing at his work. This caused Steve to sometimes turn around behind him in a way that didn’t seem suspicious, but he only saw Lake just minding his own business and reading a book. At some point, Lake stopped what he was doing and ended up falling asleep. 

As time passed by, Steve could hear the student behind him mumbling in his sleep, but they were too quiet and incoherent to understand. Those two hours felt it was longer than he needed to be, and you can imagine the sense of relief Steve had when it was time for Lake to leave. 

But Lake never left his seat. When Senior Uhl left the classroom to take a phone call, Steve turned behind him just to see his classmate still asleep. Lake’s shoulders were tense and his hands gripped the fabric of his sweater, but Steve didn’t pay attention to those details. He simply groaned in annoyance. If Lake was going to take a nap in detention, at the very least he could've set an alarm on his phone for safe measures. 

Steve leaned onto his chair and shook Lake by the arm, maybe a little too rough. “Hey, wake up Lake.” 

What happened next was just too fast to process for Steve. The sleeping student jolted awake, and instinctively grabbed and pulled Steve by the arm, making him topple over his chair. The bully felt a sharp pain in his hand and Lake twisted it. The students watched in surprise and curiosity as they quickly tried to take their cameras out but by the time they did, Jim let go of Steve’s hand. 

“Aurgghh!” The bully rubbed his presumed injured hand and shouted, “What the hell Lake?!”, angrily. 

The smaller student looked at Steve like a deer in headlights. Lake had his hand covering his mouth as he nervously glanced at the students staring at the two of them while whispering to each other. The sound of Senior Uhl slamming the door open made everyone in the room jump.

“I heard a noise. What happened?” He asked while looking at both Lake and Steve for answers.

“Fell off my chair and hurt my hand. Lake tried to help me get up but grabbed my bad hand by accident and I shouted.” Steve responded, much to the surprise of Lake and the students. However, the bully rationalized this “act of kindness” as something he could use to his advantage. If Lake was giving him trouble, Steve could threaten him by telling the teachers what really happened today, simple as that. 

“Very well.” Senior Uhl muttered. “Mr. Lake, your two hours are up, you are free to leave.”

Lake quickly said “thank you”, grabbed his bag, and ran out of the classroom. Steve glanced down at his hand and flexed it, only to feel a sharp pain once again. He’d have to go to the doctor after this.

* * *

In a small town like Arcadia, rumors and gossip spread fast like wildfire. Which is why Jim wasn’t surprised at the many stares and glances he got from students. The trollhunter sighed as he made his way to his locker, where he was greeted by Toby and Claire.

“So, I heard you tried to break Steve’s hand.” His best friend remarked, mostly as a joke. But Jim only banged his head onto his locker’s door, sighing once again. “C’mon now Jimbo, we both know you wouldn’t hurt anyone here.” 

“But it is a rumor that’s going around about that,” Claire interjected. “Maybe I can ask Mary and Darci for help, or-”

“No.” Toby and Claire looked at Jim in shock. “It might make things worse like I’m trying to make myself look better or something.” 

Claire gave Toby a look and gestured at Jim. “What did you do exactly?” He asked while moving in front of Jim. 

“During detention, I thought it’d be fine if I just took a quick nap while I was there. Then Steve woke me up for some reason and, ugh, I don’t know, I just freaked out.” The trollhunter explained, tightening his grip on his bag’s strap.

“Well, you did just come back from the Darklands, so maybe your mind is still on alert for any danger,” Claire suggested.

“Either way, it’s not like Steve didn’t have that coming,” Toby added.

“Toby!” 

“What? I’m just saying Claire, he has always been a jerk, so karma has to come knocking on his door a few times.” Toby explained. “And besides, this isn’t exactly the first time Jim had a physical scuffle with Steve.”

“ _But that was different_.” The trollhunter thought to himself. Jim punched Steve in self-defense. What he did yesterday was uncalled for, Steve didn’t do anything that justified what Jim did. 

The school bell suddenly rang, and Jim made his way to his next class alongside Toby. Meanwhile, Claire left for a different class. Coincidently, Steve was in her class, and Claire thought that this could be an opportunity. 

“Hi Steve.” She greeted, sitting next to him.

“What are you doing?” Steve asked, obviously confused as to why Claire decided to sit beside him. “Is this about yesterday with Lake?” 

Claire shrugged in response. “Kind of. How’s your hand?”

The bully glanced at it for a moment. “It’s not broken that’s for sure, just sprained.” He said, “Nothing I can’t handle.”

Claire hummed in response before asking, “You know Jim feels bad about it, right?” 

Steve scoffed at the notion. “He should be, Lake could’ve easily broken my hand.” Claire grimaced at that response. “But that doesn’t matter now, does it? Jim “Goodie Two Shoes” Lake walks away scot-free.” He muttered sarcastically, making a small jazz hand gesture as well. 

“But you could’ve told the truth and Jim would have gotten in trouble, but you didn’t. Why?” 

Steve stayed silent for a moment before he spat out, “How about you leave me alone and mind your own business?”, with a harsh tone before ignoring Claire for the rest of the class. 

The student sitting next to him stared in disbelief, wanting to add her own two-sense to Steve’s remark, but she held back. He was right to a certain degree. This situation was strictly between Jim and Steve, so there was no reason for her to bud in. 

_A few days later…_

It was lunchtime, and the trollhunter used this period as a way to get some time for himself. Yes, he would always enjoy Toby and Claire’s company no matter what, but something Jim just needed some time for himself. So he sat on the school porch alone while he ate his lunch, enjoying the cool breeze and the sunlight hitting his face. Just when the trollhunter finished his meal when the school bell rang. Quickly, Jim raced through the halls to make it to his next class which was history. 

During the middle of Coach Lawrence’s lectures, Jim felt a sharp pain on the right side of his abdomen. When he looked down, the trollhunter saw that his blue sweater was slowly being tainted by crimson red. Jim cursed to himself. A little while ago, Jim had gotten into a nasty fight with a rogue troll. In the end, he was victorious as always, but the trollhunter suffered some major injuries. Jim thought he did a good job treating them but apparently not. 

So he raised his hand and asked, “Coach Lawrence, can I go to the bathroom?” 

The P.E. teacher shrugged. “Alright, you can go Lake. Just make it quick.” 

The trollhunter knew that this wasn’t going to be “quick”, but Coach Lawrence was one of the more forgiving and kind teachers in the school, so he felt like there was nothing to worry about in terms of suspicion. 

He raced towards the boy’s gym locker room, it was always mostly empty and was very easy to hide if someone walked inside. Jim sat on one of the benches and took out a small first aid kit from his bag. The trollhunter unzipped his sweater and lifted his shirt, revealing the bloody gauze that was wrapped around Jim’s abdomen. As he unwrapped it, it showed a deep laceration that seeped quite a lot of blood out. The trollhunter groaned as he saw that the stitches he had made for the wound had become undone. Jim tossed the used gauze aside and opened the first aid kit. He couldn’t redo the stitches right now, as it would take too long to finish, so the trollhunter just put fresh new gauze on his abdomen. Jim was too focused to notice Steve entering the locker room, or even hear him enter.

Once the bully noticed Jim, he looked at his classmate with a disturbed expression. “Lake?” 

Jim froze at the sound of Steve’s voice, and he felt a sense of dread shivering through his body.

The trollhunter tried to cover his injury but Steve had become curious. “Jeez! what happened? Did someone stab you with a knife or something?” He asked, lifted Jim’s arm to get a good look at the trollhunter’s stomach.

Jim immediately pushed Steve aside and shouted “None of your business! And what are you doing here!” 

“I just finished soccer practice, my team plays on the field every Friday. And you’re not exactly trying to be discreet.” The bully explained, crossing his arms as he begrudgingly maintains his distance with Jim. “Are you a member of a cult? Oh shit! You’re not gonna kill me now that I know your secret are you?”

“What?! No, I’m- Aurggh!” The trollhunter bent down as pain from his injuries spiked. “I’m not in a cult.” He muttered.

“Then what’s up with you Lake?! First, you attack me at detention, and now this.” Steve asked as he gestured to the person in front of him.

“I didn’t mean to attack you. I was just having a bad dream.”

“Must’ve been one hell of a nightmare. Well if you aren’t in a cult, then what is it?” As Steve continued to question Jim, he could see the panic look in the trollhunter’s eyes, but tried to keep a calm attitude. 

“Like I said it’s none of your business,” Jim remarked.

Steve tightened his hand into a fist and approached Jim and got really close to him, the two of them staring intensely at each other. “Either you tell or do I have to beat out of you.”

Both of them knew that Jim wasn’t capable of fighting back well, and the trollhunter at this point couldn’t take another beating, even if it was from Steve. He looked away from the bully in defeat, with Steve smirking in response.

“Well? What is it?”

Jim tried thinking about a lie that would satisfy Steve. Being mugged wouldn’t make much sense, and any other excuse he thought of just sounded ridiculous. Until he thought of one that seemed pretty much perfect. 

“I...I’m getting paid to fight others in the street.” He said.

Steve looked at Jim suspiciously before asking, “Like a fight club?” 

The trollhunter shrugged without a care. “I guess.” 

There was a silent pause before the bully said, “Why the hell are you in a fight club then?”

Jim pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. “I’m just a little tight on money alright? Nothing deep about my reasoning. Now, if you can do me favor and keep watch? I have to finish this.”

“God, you’re so weird Lake,” Steve commented, but the trollhunter did bother to respond back with his own remark.

As Jim continued to treat his injuries, Steve glanced at the locker room’s hallways to see if anyone would be coming in their direction. Occasionally, the bully looked back at the trollhunter and would see the many scars that were on Jim’s body. It felt so out of place for Steve to see that. Jim was always one who wouldn’t hurt a fly and avoided a fight until now he supposed.

Once Jim was done, he put his shirt and sweater back on, while also putting his first aid kit back in his bag. The trollhunter got up and looked at Steve, wondering if he should thank him.

“Hey, I really am sorry about your hand. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone that doesn’t deserve it.” He muttered, eyes glued to the ground. “And please keep this,” Jim gestured to himself, “between you and me. If anyone found out, we’ll both be in serious trouble.” 

What the troll hunter said startled Steve a bit, but why should he be scared? He’s Steve Palchuck, he wasn’t scared of anything. The bully simply scoffed and remarked, “Fine, I'll keep your stupid secret between us.” before leaving.

Jim hoped Steve kept his word, he couldn’t afford to lie to anyone else. It was starting to get exhausting. 

_A week later…_

It was a Saturday, and Jim managed to get himself into detention again. This time it wasn’t his fault, or alone either. Last night a couple of gnomes went joyriding in Senior Uhl’s truck because why not? The police came before the trollhunter and his friends could flee the scene. Of course, they had to take the blame, but instead of getting arrested, Senior Uhl decided that they should serve detention the next day. 

Jim stared outside of the car window and his mother was scolding him and Toby for “stealing” their teacher’s car. “You know, girls don’t always fall for the bad boys, Jim. Sometimes, they appreciate chivalry.” She said. 

The trollhunter held back the urge to laugh, and simply responded with, “Uh, thanks for the dating advice Mom, and this won’t happen again, right Tobes?”

“Oh yeah, I rather not add anything else to our criminal records.” Toby added, poking his head out to the backseat and Barbara chuckled in response. 

Jim and Toby gave the motherly doctor their goodbyes before leaving the car. The two walked on towards the school’s entrance as Claire waited for them there, while two other students, Shannon and Eli, followed behind. 

“Are you ready to get this over with?” Claire said as she joined with the duo. 

“I don’t know Claire, maybe this could be a good thing. We’re a school so the possibility of us being in danger is almost nonexistent. Think of it as a fun little vacation.” The trollhunter suggested, then laughed at the thought of it. 

Then the trio heard a small commotion coming from the distance. They turned to the source and saw Steve getting out of Coach Lawrence’s car. The two seemed to be talking but they were too far for the trio to hear. 

“Huh, is that Coach dropping off Steve?” Claire asked, turning her back on the other student.

“Great. Vacation canceled.” Toby remarked, rolling his eyes. 

“Hey now, all you have to do is ignore him and you’ll be fine Tobes.” Jim reassured with a nervous smile.

Claire and Toby looked at the troll hunter curiously. “Since when did you become an optimist?” His best friend wondered.

“When detention became a regular occurrence for me apparently. And besides, we’ve dealt with Steve being in our class before. What makes this any different?”

When the students went to the classroom, Senior Uhl confiscated their phones, much to Mary’s dismay. Toby then decided to take out a Diablo Maximus Breakfast Burrito he bought earlier, despite Jim’s silent gestures to not do that. As the trollhunter suspected, Senior Uhl confiscated that too the moment he saw it, but Toby didn’t seem too bothered by it, which seemed weird to Jim, since it was Toby’s favorite burrito, but decided to ignore it.

After a few minutes, Claire quietly spoke up to both of the boys. “You know Jim, you might be right about us deserving a break, but I can’t help but feel guilty knowing that Gunmar might be out there.” 

Oh right. The trollhunter cringed at that reminder. “Listen, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh are looking into it. Without proof that Gunmar escaped out of the Darklands, there’s no reason for Trollmarket to panic.” He whispered. 

Then Jim saw Senior Uhl decided to eat Toby’s burrito, muttering that “It can’t be that spicy.” 

The trollhunter anxiously looked at his friend and asked, “Tobes, shouldn’t you tell Senior Uhl that it’s a bad idea to eat your burrito?” He never ate it himself, but Jim saw the effect it had on someone, which…… wasn’t pleasant to see or hear. 

“I would, but you know how Senior Uhl listens to his student. Which is not at all.” Toby said with a shrug.

Jim looked at his friend in disbelief. He wasn’t wrong, but Toby was acting way too calm for his comfort. As if he was planning for this to happen.

“ _Wait a minute._ ” 

What happened next was what Jim and Toby expected. Senior Uhl rushed to the restroom, and the two knew that he wasn’t coming back for a good while. 

Everyone stayed in their seat for a few minutes, with the trollhunter eyeing his friend suspiciously while Toby smiled back in response. Steve was the first one to leave his desk. 

“Where are you going?” Claire asked.

“I’m going to see where Senior Uhl went. Is that a problem?

“Not at all.” She said back.

Jim left his desk as well and stopped Steve before he could open the door. “Don’t bother. It’s not something you want to hear, trust me.” 

The bully rolled his eyes and opened the door anyway. The trollhunter cringed at the sounds he could now hear. When Steve turned to look at him, his face filled with regret, Jim gave him an “I told you so” look.

“It’s like a broken yogurt machine.” Claire commented, now out of her desk as she stuck head out of the door.

“Ew, it sounds like lasagna getting shot out of a T-shirt cannon.” Mary added while making a face.

“Not helping.” Jim thought as he tried to banish the mental images those comments gave him.

“That burrito had three ghost peppers in it. Too much spice for his delicate Austrian taste.” Toby explained, ignoring the glare Jim was giving him.

“He could be there all day.” Claire stated.

“That indeed.” Toby went back inside while the other students glanced at him in confusion, except for Jim. 

“You knew that would happen Tobes, didn’t you?”

“I cannot confirm or deny that statement. But we could use this to our advantage.” The chubby teen suggested with a mischievous smile.

“How?” Shannon asked.

“Well I’d rather keep that a surprise, so just stay here for a while until Mary and I can get our getaway driver.” Jim was surprised to hear that Mary was in on this. 

The supposed queen bee of the group lit up in excitement and walked outside of the classroom with Toby. As the other students waited, Jim sat on top of one of the desks, watching his legs lazily swinging up and down. His mind drifting to an endless void of muted thoughts.

“I didn’t know Domzalski was a troublemaker.” Jim looked up and saw Steve standing right in front of him, his arms crossed.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about him.” The trollhunter said.

The bully stayed silent for a moment before muttering, “How’s the, you know.” He tried to discreetly point towards the trollhunter’s injury he saw a week ago.

“It still hurts, but the stitches are holding up nicely.” Steve couldn’t understand why hearing Jim saying that so calmly made him uneasy.

“So what happened, did you trip and fall in a shard of glass or something?” 

The trollhunter let out a sarcastic laugh while forcing a smile on his face. “Oh I wish that was the case, but no. I got stabbed by someone during a fight.” 

“Must have been one hell of a fight.” Jim felt a tingling feeling in his hands the moment Steve spoke. 

“Yeah.... It was.” When the blonde bully turned his attention away from Jim, he quickly glanced at his hands, but the brief memory of blood, his blood, covering the entirety of his palms made him close his eyes shut. Jim can’t let this happen, especially now at school. 

The trollhunter pushed those emotions aside, he can deal with them later. “How did you get detention this time?” Jim asked, hoping to start a conversation as a distraction.

“Got caught copying someone else’s work.” Jim had a surprised look on his face, which then Steve remarked, “Yeah, what a surprise. Steve Palchuck gets in trouble for something that doesn’t involve hurting people.”

“Hey! I didn’t-” The trollhunter paused for a few seconds before he sighed with guilt. “You just have a reputation okay? And not a good one, but you already know that. I know you are capable of being a nice person. You were a good person back when-” Jim flinched at that last part. He shouldn’t have done that, he shouldn't have been digging up the past where at this point it doesn’t matter.

Luckily for Jim, Toby and Mary had returned. “Hey, hey, hey, we’re back! Now if you can please follow us, that’d be really nice.” Toby announced happily. 

Jim quickly hopped off the desk and sped walk towards his best friend, while avoiding his gaze at Steve. As the group walked out of school grounds, a car was parked in front of the school's entrance. The front window lowered and revealed Darci seating in the driver’s seat.

“Darci? What are you doing here?” Claire asked in surprise, making her way in front of the group.

“Helping you escape this prison Clairebear. We’re going to have a bonfire party tonight.” 

The idea of having a rebellious party is what all it took to persuade her, as she wasted no time to get inside the passenger’s seat. 

Mary and Toby looked at the rest of the group with anticipation. “Do you need an invitation or something, come on we don’t have all day.” Mary said, her patience already wearing thin. 

Eli and Shannon were the next ones to get inside the car, though it seemed like Shannon had helped Eli to gain the courage to even pursue that action. Steve then went as well and sat in the front seat, much to Mary’s annoyance. So there was one person left.

“Wrong’s Jimbo?” Toby asked while inside of the car as well. 

Jim believed this was bad, that this was going to get them into even more trouble than they already were. But Toby took the time to make this happen, and would most likely face the punishment the worst when they face the consequences. So he came up with an excuse. 

“Well, there’s no more room for me in the back.” Jim explained, seeing that three people had one person sitting on their lap. 

“It’s okay, you can just sit on Steve’s lap.” Darci said.

“What!?” Both the two male teens exclaimed.

“Look, it’s not the end of the world if you two are close to each other for a while.” Mary reassured, who was beyond done at this point. 

Jim took a deep breath and reluctantly made his way to the front door and when opened, he sat on top of the blonde bully.   
  
“Okay, you guys ready?” Darci laughed at the sound of various happy remarks she got at once. 

The ride through Arcadia was a nervous wreck for Jim, and who could blame him. He was sitting on his former bully’s lap after what he had assumed to be an emotional conversation, the trollhunter still couldn’t look Steve in the eye. 

At some point, they had stopped at a gas station. “Why did we stop?” Shannon asked. 

“Almost out of gas, and also so we can get some snacks as well.” Darci explained, getting out of the car while doing so.

“You didn’t bring any food?” Eli added as everyone started to leave for the store.

“I did. Just thought it’d be nice to get something for ourselves Eli.” 

As the young teens ran around the building to see what they could buy. Jim mindlessly wandered around, fidgeting his hands. Darci said she had food so he didn’t really need anything from the store. Just his luck, the trollhunter managed to bump into Steve.

“Ah! Sorry.” Jim apologized. 

The blonde bully didn’t say anything for a moment. “Not getting anything for yourself.”

It was then Jim noticed that Steve was carrying a couple of chips and a soda in his arms. “Um, no. We already have food in the car so what's the point?” 

“The point would be because it’s fun picking stuff out that you like.” Steve rolled his eyes when it looked like Jim still didn’t get it. “Come on Lake. There has to be something here your craving about.”

The trollhunter could only shrug back. The blonde teen then grabbed Jim by the arm and dragged him towards one of the store’s aisles. He let go and said, “Pick something.” 

Jim glanced at the products in front of him. “Why?”

“Because you have to learn how to act like a teenager, starting by buying something for yourself.”

“But-”

“Stop asking questions and just pick something.”

The trollhunter couldn’t understand why Steve was so persistent. Unless he took what Jim said at school to heart. No, that couldn't be the case. Steve hated him and listening to him would be the last thing he’d ever do. Jim sighed and walked closer to the aisle to inspect what was in front of him. Each row had a large variety of sweets and candy, and the trollhunter looked at the price tags to see if he could afford it. Taking into account the cost, Jim started grabbing his favorite candy. And he might or might have not gone overboard, as he was having a difficult time carrying the large amounts of sweets

Steve watched in surprise as Jim turned to him and asked, “Is this too much?”

“Uh no, not at all.” He lied. “Is there anything else you want to get?” 

The trollhunter hummed thoughtfully and went to another aisle while the blonde bully followed nearby. Jim took a few more things and when he was done, the two of them went to the cash register to pay. The cashier asked them if they wanted a bag, while also giving Jim a funny look. Steve declined but the trollhunter accepted the offer. 

As both of them walked out of the store, the rest of the group were waiting for them in the car.

“Omg, what took you guys so long?” Mary complained. 

“Lake had some issues, nothing to worry about. We’re here aren’t we.” Steve answered, getting back inside the car as Jim sat on his lap again.

Mary pouted and crossed her arms while Darci and Claire stifled a snicker. The moment they continued driving, Jim began to get lost in his thoughts. The trollhunter had the window open, as he found the breeze flowing past his face soothing. Their destination was a small clear area that had the set up a campfire and some logs to sit on. Despite never coming here, Jim knew that this was one of the many hotspots in Arcadia that teens would place their parties.

As they all got out of the car, the boys helped Darci take out the firewood from the trunk while the girls brought the food out. While Steve, Eli, and Mary were bickering on how to start a fire, Jim was looking inside the bag that contained what he bought and came to the conclusion that he did go overboard.

“Hey Jimbo, wanna trade some snacks?” Toby asked as it seemed he appeared out of nowhere, which startled the trollhunter.

‘Uh, I don’t know. What do you have?” His best friend took out his snacks while Jim showed him the contents inside.

Toby laughed in surprise and said, “Oh wow! Maybe I should’ve been with you. Man, I forgot that you have a terrible sweet tooth.”

Jim's face turned red from embarrassment and his shoulders tensed. “I do not have a sweet tooth.”

“Right, I’ve been on a diet for fourteen years.” Toby commented sarcastically. “Now about our trade.”

“Forget it.” The trollhunter said. “You don’t have anything I want anyways.”

Jim turned away from his friend dramatically and stormed off as Toby watched with an amusing smile. The trollhunter sat on a log where it had a clear view of his hometown below.

“Nice view, right?” Claire stated, sitting next to Jim. 

“Yeah, but I prefer our spot.” He admitted.

The two went quiet for a while, watching the sun slowly disappear from their sight. “So how’s your first party as a teenager going?” She jokingly asked. 

But as Jim thought about, this actually was his first time. He was never social enough at school to be involved in stuff like this. The trollhunter wondered if he should feel sad for himself about this fact. “It’s going okay.” He decided to say.

“And I noticed you’ve been talking to Steve quite a lot today.” 

“What? Am I not allowed to?” Jim remarked with a smile.

“Not at all. It’s just interesting, that’s all. Steve kind of hates your guts.” Claire explained with a shrug.

The trollhunter hummed in acknowledgment. “I don’t know, today was different. It seemed like I wasn't trying to be mean towards me. I don’t think he’s even messed with Eli all day.” 

“Hey, maybe your good vibes are finally rubbing off on him.” She suggested.

“My what?”

Claire rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Jim. “Come on now. You have an effect on people, able to bring the good that’s inside of them.” 

“Listen, if I really had that effect on people, then I would have been on Steve’s good side by now. Hell, I wouldn’t have gone to the Darklands if I was capable of doing that.” The trollhunter managed to stop himself before he could open that can of worms even further. Truth be told, Jim thought Steve was just taking pity on him. 

“That’s true, but you try. And that’s all that matters really. You did that with Draal and look where it got you. You gained a new friend because of that.” The trollhunter chuckled, she got him there. 

“I guess you have a point.” 

“I always do.” She remarked with a wink.

The two of them then burst out laughing softly. Claire heard the sound of someone calling her name and turned to the left side to see Darci waving at her. “Well, I gotta go.”

Jim made a small wave goodbye as she left to help out her friend. The trollhunter glanced down at his bag of candy that was on the floor and grabbed a handful. As he took out the wrapper and began eating, his face then beamed with happiness as he felt surgery flavor in his mouth. Jim then felt a newfound warmth behind him, turned around to see the campfire finally ignited. 

He saw Steve glared at Mary, who had a smug expression, while Eli tried to hold back his laughter. The blonde bully sat at the nearest log, which was Jim’s, and started wiping off the soot on his face.

“Geez, what happened?” The trollhunter asked, continuing to eat his candy.

“Mary and I were arguing about how to start the fire. It didn’t go well.” Steve explained.

“She shouldn’t have done that, inhaling fumes from a fire can really damage your lungs.” 

“Well, not everyone knows about doctor stuff Lake.” He said, placing his hand under his chin.

Jim narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why are you talking to me?” 

“Huh?”

“It’s just, really confusing. You never seem to like me and you know, the whole bully shtick. But ever since last week when you found me in the locker room, you’ve been, nicer? I guess. And what I said earlier at school, you don’t look upset about that. I- do you feel bad for me or something?” The trollhunter was rambling, he very much knew that but this was starting to bother him to no end. 

Luckily for Jim, Steve covered his mouth with his hand, asking, “Are you done?”

He nodded and the blonde teen retracted his hand back. “That time in the locker room I guess you can say opened my eyes. And I wasn’t mad about what you said at school because it’s true. Maybe I can be a better person, but I never expected it to be this hard. How can I do that if I even don’t know who that better person is.” Steve yelled in frustration and pulled his hair back. “Whatever, it might not even be worth it in the long run.”

“Hey, it is worth it.” Jim hesitated but touched Steve by the shoulder. “Maybe you just need someone to help you out.”

“Like you?”

“I… don’t see why not.” The trollhunter admitted. “And, I’d like to see who the real Steve Palchuck is.”

The blonde teen looked away and huffed. “Fine, but don’t go telling anyone about this and getting their hopes up, in case this doesn’t work.” 

Jim laughed and ate another candy from his bag. “You’ve kept your word about my secret, so I’ll mine for yours.” The trollhunter’s smile was so genuine and soft that Steve couldn’t help but smile back.

Not long after, the sun had disappeared completely and the night took over the skies. The group walked closer to where the fire's light could reach. Some were trying to make some while others were simply talking.

“So any clue to what the adults are going to do to us when we come back?” Darci asked while making sure her marshmallow wasn’t getting too burned. 

“Other than grounding all of us for like an eternity?” Mary remarked.

Darci playfully pushed Mary. “Come on, be realistic. All I know is that my dad is totally going to take my car away.”

“Well be glad you don’t have parents like mine. They’re going to be on me twenty-four seven after this.” Claire said distastefully, cringing at the thought of it. 

“I don’t think it matters what our parents do to us. Because we already know that what we did today was against the rules.” Shannon stated, she then stared up at the stars and asked, “It’s funny, we’re all practically in the same class every year and yet some of us don’t know a single thing about each other. And took getting detention for us to spend time together.”

“What if we can change that?” Everyone looked at Jim, who then stood up. “Everyone talks about how hard it is to be a teenager, well maybe being there for each other can help that.”

“Hey, Jimbo is right. We’re all struggling if mostly the same issues as teenagers, why not suffer together to make this world more tolerable?” Toby stood by his friend’s side like he always does and forever will.

The group looked at each other, and although no one said anything, everyone knew that they were on board with this. Jim was anxious about this, being a part of a group as big as this was new to him. But today, he has never felt this excited and happy since he got the amulet, so the trollhunter knew it must have meant something. 

His thoughts were interrupted however by the touch of a raindrop. It soon didn’t take long for the rain to start pouring in. 

“Arggh! Are you serious?!” Mary shouted.

“Let’s get to the car and leave!” Darci stated as they began running out of the campsite.

“But where will we go?!” Eli asked.

“How about my house?! My mom won’t be home for at least a few hours!” Jim offered.

The teens got inside the car, all them in the same seats they were earlier, including the ones who had to sit on someone’s laps. Darci said, “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” and began to drive off.

“Man! I can’t believe today was ruined by the stupid rain!” Mary complained with a pout.

“What talking about, we all had fun. So why let a little rain ruin the moment?” Steve remarked.

As they drove back to Arcadia. Jim leaned to the car’s seat while he heard Claire, Toby, and Mary debate about one of the Gun Robot movies. Jim smiled in delight until he looked out the window from Darci’s side. For a split second, he saw a large shadowy figure running towards them. Jim acted fast and tried to shield Darci and Steve but in the end, it wouldn’t matter much in the long run.

The impact was powerful, as it flung the car off the road and towards the wood. The car flipped around so many times since, beyond the road, there was a hill there before they could even make it to the woods. Jim closed his eyes shut as he was thrashed around by the car’s force and because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt. To the trollhunter, it felt like he would be stuck in this endless cycle of recurring pain. So the moment the car stopped moving, Jim laid there with a blank stare for a moment, hearing the soft sounds of the rain pouring outside. 

He then looked up and saw Steve and Darci dangling from their seats. If the car was flipped upside down then that’d mean, Jim lifted himself and the pain all over his right side finally registered to him. He was indeed laying on shards of glass. The trollhunter slowly concluded that they needed to get out of this car. Ignoring the throbbing pain that came from the back of his head, the trollhunter made his way to the door. 

However, when Jim pushed the door’s handle, it wouldn't open. He retried multiple times before accepting that the front door was stuck. So the trollhunter repositioned himself, wincing as he felt the shard of glass piercing through his forearms. Jim extended his right leg and tried to kick down the door. An awful sensation traveled through his leg. He tightened his hands into a fist and clenched his teeth with all his might, fighting back the urge to scream. A quiet whine escaped his lips, something was wrong with his right leg but it definitely wasn’t broken. So he tried his left leg, after a few tries the door still wouldn’t open.

Jim needed more strength than he had currently, so he took out the amulet for his pocket, very much grateful that it was still with him, and said the incantation. 

_“F...for the Glory…of...of Merlin…Day…Daylight is…s Mine to Co….Command…_ ” As the amulet shined a flash of light, the trollhunter felt his newfound strength the moment his armor appeared around him, and with three kicks, the door flew open. 

Jim dragged himself out of the car and stood up. A wave of dizziness hit him, and his body felt heavy. He stumbled for a bit but managed to get his balance in check. He couldn’t get like this, Jim reminded himself. Getting to the task at hand, the trollhunter went to Steve’s side and unbuckled his seatbelt. He made sure that his fellow student didn’t go into contact with the floor and carried him outside. Once Jim placed Steve on the ground, he went back and forth doing the same process with the others. First Toby, then Mary, then Shannon.

When he was carrying Eli out, a loud growl echoed through the woods. The trollhunter felt a shiver run down his spine, as the color drained from his face, knowing full well that the sound did not come from an animal. Setting his classmate down, he grabbed the handle of his sword and spun around face whatever troll that would come his way. Jim at first could only see a pair of glowing blue eyes, but as the troll got closer, the trollhunter began to recognize its appearance.

“Draal?” Jim's voice wavered. No, he would never have done this. Something else must be amiss. 

The troll wasted no time and charged towards the trollhunter. Jim moved to the side and saw his classmates. He can’t let his friends get hurt. So he ran, as fast as he could, hearing a fearsome roar that felt all too familiar. The trollhunter saw from the corner of his eye Draal spinning towards him. Jim summoned his shield to block his attack, the impact sending him flying off a distance, landing straight towards a tree. The trollhunter had the air knocked out of him as the moment he hit that tree, he heard a loud _CRACK!_ And the pain from his spine shot all over his body. Jim dropped to his knees as tears welled up in his eyes, as he desperately gasped for air. 

With a shaky breath, Jim slowly got back up as he felt Draal’s presence. Every movement made the trollhunter feel like he was on fire, but he had to ignore it. He had to. Jim looked up at the troll in front of him, with Daylight in his hands again, and muttered, “What…what did you do to him?” His words slurred.

Draal, or rather whoever was inside of him, laughed. And the trollhunter recognized that voice. “ _Gunmar._ ” He thought.

“The mighty trollhunter, defeated by one blow.” The skullcrusher mocked. “I expected more out of one who slain my son.”

“You didn’t defeat me just yet… There’s still a little fight in me left.” Jim lifted his sword with all his strength and went into a fighting stance. “So we’re not done until I say it is!” He said with such rage. 

How _**dare**_ Gunmar take his friend away from him. Was there seriously no limit to how low he will go? 

“No matter how different you all are.” Gunmar spun again, but Jim moved to the side in time to avoid his attack. “Every trollhunter will always be stubborn!” The troll leaped and dived down with a punch. Jim swung his sword but didn’t hit his opponent. Despite who was trying to kill him, it was still Draal’s body. And Jim had hope, hope that there was a chance to bring his friend back. 

So the trollhunter hoped that it would trick the skullcrusher and force him to keep his distance. It didn’t work. Gunmar grabbed Jim and slammed him against the ground. “You cannot deceive me trollhunter. You must kill this pathetic excuse of a troll or it will be used against you.”

As Jim struggled to breathe while Gunmar tightened his grip, he said, “ I… I’m not going to hurt my friend. A-and you are a coward! Using others to do your dirty work and can’t even face me yourself!” 

The prideful smile the skullcrusher had faded away and snarled at the trollhunter. “Let’s see how well you can amuse me?” 

He flung Jim away, and the trollhunter quickly stumbled back up as Gunmar charged towards him again. This was a fight Jim could barely remember, maybe for good reason. For the only thing the trollhunter can remember was the unbearable pain the dark overlord gave him. 

* * *

Steven heard the muffled sounds of the rain before he could wake up. When his hearing and vision became clearer, the blonde teen could now hear voices shouting at each other, but one caught his attention in particular.   
  
“Hey, come on wake up. We need all the help we can get.” Toby desperately shook Steve by the shoulder. 

The blonde teen turned to see Claire trying to calm Mary down, while Darci was with Shannon, checking for any injuries she might have with the help of Eli. 

“Mary calm down! You could hurt yourself more!” 

“Don’t tell me to calm down Clairebear! We were in an accident and one of us is missing! And I don’t have any service on my phone so I can’t call for help!” She shouted at her friend. Mary scrubbed the tears coming from her eyes as she sped-walk around the area to get service.

Claire grabbed Mary’s hands and drew her friend close to her. “Listen, you have the right to freak out. But not right now, I have to see if you’re hurt first. We’ll find a way to get help I promise.”

Mary sniffed and silently nodded. Then Toby snapped his fingers in front of him to bring Steve’s attention back to him.

“Hey! I know you’re in some kind of shock right now but I seriously need you to snap out of it.” Toby began to mumble to himself, too low for Steve to hear.

Steve pushed himself forward to a sitting position, his body felt heavy and the world around began to feel dizzy for him. “We… we were in a car crash.” He stated, more to himself than the person next to him.

“Yeah. A pretty nasty one at best. But Jim is missing and I can’t find him anywhere.” Toby explained. “I think he tried to take us all out of the car but it seems like something made him stop.” The redhead had a terrible feeling that this wasn’t a normal accident.

“Lake… was sitting in front of me, he.... he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.” 

Toby pulled his hair back and tried to ignore the implications of that comment. “Which is why I need your help to find him.” 

The redhead helped Steve get up, who almost stumbled back down to the ground. To be honest, Toby would’ve picked someone else to help him. But Claire was busy with making sure everyone else was calm and alright. 

The two made their way through the woods, calling for Jim when Steve began to notice that a lot of the trees were knocked down in half. And among the broken trees, he could see blood splattered around the area. 

“Domzalski.” The blonde teen showed Toby his findings.

The redhead felt his blood turning cold, coming to the terrifying realization of the worst-case scenario had come true. All he knew was that his best friend was in serious trouble and that there was something dangerous in the woods.

“Follow me. And make sure to keep up! Being alone right now is too risky.” Steve was caught off guard by how serious Toby sounded, but he couldn’t blame him. 

They both knew that if they found Jim, it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight to see. Following the path of the destruction of the woods, the two finally heard something. As they walked closer to the source, the sounds of roaring and scraping became louder and louder. Toby suddenly ran towards the danger while Steve had no choice but to follow. They slid down a short, muddy, hill and very quickly Toby made Steve hide under the bushes.

But he was stronger than the redhead and got up. The blonde teen was going to shout at him until he looked in horror at what he saw. In front of them was Jim, who was laying on the ground with some kind of armor, his face covered in blood. From behind the trollhunter, was some kind of beast that loomed over him. Steve acted on instinct and rushed over there to help but Toby stopped, this time making sure that Steve doesn’t interfere.

“Let go of me, Domzalski.” The blonde teen whispered with such intense anger.

“No. You’ll make things worse.” Toby warned with a shaky voice, never taking his eyes off the beast.

“Worse? How can I make it worse when Lake is over there dying because of that, that monster?!” Steve was beginning to find it very hard to not shout.

“Exactly. You’re going to get yourself killed like that and that “monster” might decide to come after the others.” 

Steve knew that Toby was right but was too furious to admit it. And it wasn’t like the redhead was on board with this either. He wanted to help his friend, he wanted to so much but knew the harsh reality of the situation, which was that he wasn’t enough to protect Jim from Gunmar and would endanger his classmates. 

As Jim slowly tried to drag himself away from the beast with the strength he had left, it grabbed him by the hair, pulled him close, and whispered something to him. Steve and Toby held their breath at the sight of the beast slamming the trollhunter’s face into the ground, which made the armor disappear. Steve was sure that it was going to kill Jim but to his and Toby’s surprise, and relief, the beast walked away with a victorious smile and disappeared into the night. 

There was a moment of silence. No one spoke, no one, only the sound of rain pouring down and the wind blowing the trees. Then, the painful moans that came from the trollhunter made Steve rushed towards him. He fell to his knees, flipped Jim over, and held him close. The trollhunter’s blue sweater was tainted by a crimson red color all over, he tried to speak but the blood inside this mouth made it impossible to do so. 

Steve stared at Jim and muttered, “He... he needs to go to the hospital,” before glancing at Toby, who was covering his mouth as tears welled up in his eyes. “Domzalski!” He shouted. “He needs to get to a hospital.” 

“My phone broke during the crash.” Toby said quietly. “Maybe... maybe the others already called for help.” Steve was going to follow the redhead but was stopped. “No! He might be too unstable to move. So please, stay here until I come back.” 

“O-okay.” No. Steve couldn’t do it, he couldn’t handle hearing Jim desperately trying to talk for whatever reason even though he was choking on his own blood, his wide eyes frantically darting from every direction.

The trollhunter was just as scared as Steve was, maybe even more. Now with a prickly feeling in his blood-soaked hands, the blonde teen moved Jim’s face to his direction and repeated the phrases, “I-it’s going to be okay. Just ha-hang in there. Help’s on the away...” over, and over, and over, and over again with only one thought in his mind:

He never expected to see this much blood to come out of only one person.


	2. Filling In the Gaps

As the rain poured through the streets of Arcadia, the police station was crowded with officers. Detective Scott had some paperwork he had to fill out after finishing a case of his. After that, he hoped to go home and spend some time with his daughter, if she wasn’t out with her friends. But he knew that Darci was at home since both Claire and Mary were said to be in detention for most of the day, so surely there was nothing to worry about. From a few desks away from him, an officer saw that their phone was going off and answered it.

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?” They asked.

“Hello? Me and some students were in a car crash and one of us is missing.” 

The officer tensed at what they heard from the person’s voice on the other line, they began writing down the details they were given. “What’s your name?”

“C-Claire Nuñez.” Crap, the officer knew that was the councilwoman’s daughter.

“Okay, and where are you?” 

“Uh. I don’t know, somewhere around the campsite- Toby! Did you find Jim?” 

The officer continued to silently listen to the other line. “Yeah, but he got seriously messed up! I- I think he might be dying Claire. Please tell me you called for help!” 

Then, the other line hung up. The officer immediately began to contact dispatch to anyone who was close around the area and began to call an ambulance. By that time, Detective Scott was done with paperwork and was heading home.

Barbara looked up from her phone as someone announced that there was trauma incoming. She had been trying to contact her son for a while but to no avail, calling lead to voicemail and texting lead to no response. With a sigh, Barbara tucked her phone away and got ready to return to work. She anxiously waited for the ambulance to arrive, and in a matter of a few minutes, they arrived. 

As the paramedics swung the door open, Barbara made her way to assess the patient they brought in. But when she got close enough to see who it was, the doctor froze in complete shock. The sight of her son bleeding out in a gurney made it feel like Barbara’s entire world was going to shatter right then and there. Her baby boy, her ray of sunshine, was now dying right next to her. No, she thought. This was the irrational part of her mind speaking, Barbara did not know the full extent of Jim’s injuries. But, she had to let another doctor take care of her son. Holding herself as tightly as she could, Barbara watched her co-workers take Jim away. They did not question why she didn’t treat him, because practically everyone in the hospital knew it was her son, and Barbara knew that because of this fact, they would do everything they can to save him.

“Dr. L!!” The doctor snapped out of her train of thought and turned around to see Toby making his way towards her with tears in his eyes. Barbara braced herself as the teen came to her for a hug. 

She stayed quiet and let the tears stream down her face while allowing Toby to break down. A paramedic came through the entrance and spotted the teen. “Hey! You can’t go running off like that without a doctor examining you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that.” Barbara muttered, her voice sounding dull and hollow. As more patients came to the ER, she began to recognize them to be students from her son’s class. “Come over here Toby, I need to examine you.”

“But Jim-”

“There’s nothing you can do right now except allowing me to make sure you’re alright.” Toby silently agreed, slowly making his way to one of the gurneys that were in the ER.

Barbara couldn’t do anything to help her son, but what she could do was to make sure these kids were alright and healthy. That’s all she could do, and the doctor hated that fact so much. As Barbara examined the redhead teen, she heard some commotion in the waiting room. The doctor saw Ophelia, shouting at one of the nurses to let her see her daughter while Javier was trying to calm his wife down. 

Babara let out a tired sigh and told Toby, “Your injuries seem to be minor, but I want to run more tests to make sure you don’t have any internal injuries. For all of you.” She took a quick glance at the other teens before walking toward the waiting room. “Mrs. Nuñez, there is no need to cause a scene.” 

“Cause a scene? My daughter was in a car accident! Do you know how common it is for someone to die in a car crash?!” Of course, Barbara did, she was a doctor. That’s why she was always anxious at the idea of her son riding a vehicle.

“How can you say such a thing? Your child wasn’t the only one in the accident and yet you don’t see us shouting at others like they own the place.” Detective Scott interjected, obviously offended by how the councilwoman was acting.

“Claire wasn’t supposed to be out there! None of them should have!” 

Soon enough the other parents joined in on the argument while Barbara watched them with a tired stare. The doctor drowned out their voices with her own thoughts, not wanting to take part in this pointless bickering.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never broken the rules before! Going behind your parents’ backs for the sake of rebellion!” 

It was very apparent that Jim needed surgery, but to what extent? She didn’t have enough time to see all of his wounds.

“Not when it comes to risking my own life for it!”

Should she call her family? They never gave the effort to be a part of her son’s life but that didn’t mean they never care about him. Barbara wasn’t sure how much of a support system he would need after this.

“Oh don’t give me that-” 

What about his mental state? The traumatic experience will very much affect him in more ways than one. Does this mean she’ll have to get a counselor of some kind, or would her son be more comfortable with someone close to him? When it came to therapy, it was hard for Jim to adjust to such a change at a young age. But what if it wasn’t enough? What if thinking ahead was a pointless endeavor in the end? Jim not making it was still in the realm of possibility.

“People please.” The parents went silent by Nana’s stern voice, something that even Barbara rarely heard. “Arguing among each other will lead us to nowhere. Our children are hurt. This is not about you, so you must let Dr. Lake and the others do their jobs.”

Once the silence filled the room for a few moments, all eyes were on Barbara. “Some of them appear to have minor injuries as far as we know, and while others have more serious wounds, none of them seem to be fatal.” The doctor explained bluntly. She couldn’t have any emotion in her voice, otherwise the grieving mother in her would come out and that wouldn’t be so professional of her, she had to keep her emotions in check. “I will let you know when you’ll be able to see them.”

Each parent began to calm down and some of them took a seat. The doctor noticed someone she didn't expect to see from the waiting room. Coach Lawrence sat amongst the other parents. She only knew him as one of the teachers of the public highschool of Arcadia and nothing more. Barbara took a shot in the dark and guessed that one of the kids was one of his. She didn’t dwell too much on it, after all, their children were going to be fine. 

Barbara took a deep breath and went back to the ER. The doctorly mask she’s been struggling to keep was still intact, but it was inevitable that it would have to come off, and she knew that.

* * *

After further testing, it is safe to say that Toby wasn’t suffering from any internal injuries, rather some lacerations and small head trauma. Barbara told him and the other students that some of them would stay here overnight for observations, just in case. The redhead didn’t want to leave with his nana just yet, he wanted to be there with his friends for support. 

“You alright Claire?” Toby asked anxiously as he sat next to her.

“Yeah.... just the morphine that’s all…” She answered, her speech slightly slurred.

“Don’t worry Toby, in a few hours the drug will probably wear off,” Darci reassured, taking a seat on the right side of the bed. She had her in a cast on her arm and had a sling around her to support it. “Though I get the feeling that it isn’t Claire who you’re about.” 

The redhead teen looked at the person next to him, her expression hesitant but still determined to obtain answers. He let a dry but quiet chuckle and said, “I would think that would be obvious by now.” 

“Sorry. But you haven’t talked about it. I’m just trying to make sure that you’re alright, well that everyone is alright mentally, but for you specifically. Jim is your best friend and anything can happen. You might even have to brace yourself for the worst-case scenario.”

Toby cringed at the thought of losing Jim, grabbing the fabric of his pants with a tight grip. “Jim’s a fighter. You’d be surprised how much he can take.” 

Darci couldn’t help but pity him, but she did not understand the true extent of Toby’s words. She did not know the countless fights the trollhunter faced with creatures that were twice his size.

“Did...did you see what attacked Jim? You and Steve are the only ones that found him and he won’t talk.”

The redhead’s eyes were glued to the floor with an intense stare. The image of one of his companions, his friend’s protector, slamming Jim deeper into the ground and leaving him there with no remorse. “I-it looks like a bear.” He muttered.

“A bear?” Darci repeated, who was having doubts.

“I think so. Look it was dark and I was still in shock, but to me, it seemed like it was a bear.” Toby couldn’t handle more of his classmate’s interrogation, he just didn’t want to replay the awful images in his head.

“Hey. Where are you going?” 

“I’m going to get something to eat.” He responded.

“But we’re at a hospital.” 

“I’m sure I can find something around here.” With that, Toby left before Darci could continue their conversation. 

The girl’s eyes then wandered to the blonde bully. Like she said to her departed classmate, Steve refused to speak with anyone the moment the ambulance came. He just stood frozen, sitting in one of the gurneys with a blank stare. Darci cautiously shuffled towards the unresponsive student.

“Um. Toby told me what happened.” She said nervously. As much as Darci wanted to believe Toby, the girl always liked to double-check her facts. It’s helped wash the worries away. 

“Why do you care?” Steve asked, his voice quiet but somehow intense enough that it made Darci uncomfortable. But she stayed persistent because if today meant anything, it was that Steve was like everyone else. That there were people he thought mattered and wasn’t so terrible, or at least that was what she hoped. 

“Police get involved in this kind of stuff, so they ask questions. I thought It’d be easier on all of you guys if I asked first so there wouldn’t be any added stress on talking about it with a stranger. ” She explained before continuing with, “Toby said it was a bear that attacked Jim. Is that true?”

The blonde teen blinked, then said, “A..... bear?” 

Darci only nodded. She could see how Steve was reeling in this information. “Yeah. That’s what I saw, probably the biggest bear I’ve ever seen.” The intense tone of his voice never left, but only grew. What would Steve be mad about? Unless Toby’s statement was false. “Where ‘s Domzalski?” 

She didn’t want to tell him, cause it felt like that would only stir the pot. But they were at a hospital, so Darci had nothing to worry about, right? “He said that he was going to get something to eat but-”

Steve immediately got up and pushed his classmate aside to leave the ER. Darci groaned in frustration, already feeling her regret. The young student looked around and saw the police. She took a deep breath and tried to shake off her nerves, Darci needed to be there with her friends for this. She tried reassuring herself that there was nothing between the two boys. 

* * *

Toby sat on the floor next to a vending machine, all while staring at the amulet that dimly glowed a blue light. The redhead managed to grab it just before the ambulance took him away. He dreadfully waited for the small object to do something, for better or for worse. Suddenly, someone grabbed Toby by the collar of his shirt and began dragging him into a secluded area in the hospital. 

He was then shoved into a wall and dropped the amulet from his hand. The redhead gazed upwards to see Steve in front of him, who had a furious expression. While rubbing his neck, Toby muttered, “Oh come on…” to himself.

“A bear? That’s what you went with?!” He shouted.

“So I see you’ve talked to Darci,” Toby remarked, trying his best to smooth-talk his way out of this.

“Are you stupid?! No one is going to believe that a bear caused all of this!” 

“You’d be surprised. There’s a lot of bears in California, you know?”

“Oh, my bad. I didn’t realize bears had enough strength to flip a car over, let alone breaking trees in half!” Toby wasn’t sure why the blonde teen was so mad at him for doing it, it’s not like he did anything better or anything at all when Darci asked him what he saw.

“Listen. It’s a lot more believable than what actually happened. I’m trying my best here so cut me some slack alright.” The redhead tried to leave but he was shoved back again, only this time Steve didn’t let go. “Urgh! What is your problem?! I was trying not to make us look crazy and yet you’re mad at me?! You have no right to treat me this way!”

The blonde teen faltered and let go of Toby. Jim’s words began to echo in his mind, “ _You just have a reputation okay? And not a good one, but you already know that. I know you are capable of being a nice person._ ” 

He was doing it again, and Steve didn’t realize it. He was going back to the school bully that tormented others, going back to the person that everyone hated. “I.......I’m trying to be a better person....” Steve muttered, but more to himself than to Toby. “Sorry....”

“Well, at least you got it out of your system right?” The redhead bitterly said back.

Of course Toby didn’t forgive him, why would he? The blonde teen would’ve probably hurt him if he continued. 

“ _Steve Palchuck...._ ” 

Both of them froze at the new voice, Steve wasn’t able to recognize it. “ _Steve Palchuck....._ ” He turned to the right to see a small object on the floor, the hands ticking away. 

Toby quickly fell to his knees and snatched it from the floor, his hands shaking. The redhead looked absolutely terrified. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!” He got up and ran out of the room they were in, with Steve following behind. 

This isn't happening. Jim was fine, he was fine. What Toby heard was just his mind playing tricks on him. His best friend wasn’t dead, he can’t. But the amulet said Steve’s name, that wouldn’t have happened if...... if......

The redhead stopped at a screeching halt at the sight of doctors blocking his path, one of them being Barbara. “What are you two doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the ER?”

“Uh,” Toby looked back to see Steve, who was glancing away at the group of people. “We... just wanted to grab something to eat Dr. L, but we got lost. It’s a big hospital you know.” He couldn’t hold back the tears, as the idea of Jim being gone finally settling in. “Sorry about that.” Toby sobbed.

“No. Don’t apologize, this all must be very hard on you.” Barbara took one of his hands while wiping her tears away. She then took him to a few corridors until they made it to the ICU. When Barbara led Toby to one of the rooms, he quietly gasped. “He’s still in critical condition. But there’s hope that Jim will make it. 

The redhead felt a tidal wave of relief wash over him. He wasn’t dead, his best friend was still here. But if that was the case, then why did the amulet call for Steve. Toby began to worry, was the amulet just preparing for the inevitable. Can it even do that?

Barbara left the room to go talk to the doctors again. She saw Steve standing outside of the room like he was afraid to even enter with Toby. The doctor had heard a lot about him, with none of it being good. However, Steve was just a child, and just like the rest of his classmates, he was terrified about this ordeal. So, despite her hesitance, Barbara silently allowed the blonde teen to stay. 

Steve had expected Lake’s mother to kick him out, he wasn’t close to her son, not by a long shot. Now that it was just him and Toby, he felt intrusive and out of place. Steve was about to leave until the redhead spoke. 

“Something’s wrong.” 

“What?” He asked while seeing Toby holding his friend's hands. 

“The amulet. It won’t call someone unless the previous user has died.” Oh. Steve sensed a chill slowly running down his spine.

“But Lake’s fine. He has tubes in his mouth, but he's still alive.” The blonde teen rationalized. 

“I want to believe that too. But there has to be a reason why the amulet said your name.” 

“Maybe it’s broken.” Toby raised an eyebrow at Steve's suggestion. He showed the small object in his hand and tossed it at his classmate. 

“Does it look broken to you?” Steve inspected it, there didn’t seem to be any cracks or anything out of place as far as he knew.

“It’s magic, right? It’s messed up and we don’t see it.” The redhead groaned in frustration and pulled his hair back.

“Look man, I don’t have all the answers. I’m just spouting stuff other people told me.” 

The blonde teen was unsure if this was the right time, but at this point, he couldn’t stand being in the dark anymore. “S-so, you know what caused this?”

Toby stayed silent for a moment, the lump now in his throat made it difficult to get the words out. “Yeah..... I guess I do.” 

“Then can you please tell me what is going on? Because you can fool everyone in this hospital, but you sure as hell can’t with me.” Steve was able to control himself from shouting this time. 

Once again, there was a long pause from Toby. All he wanted to do today was to get his peers to enjoy themselves. He wanted Jim to have one day, one day where he was at peace and didn’t have to worry much about his responsibilities. The redhead had never expected this to blow up on his face this hard. Now Steve was the trollhunter while there was a huge possibility of his best friend dying.

“Well then, you might want to sit down for this part. Cause it’s a lot to take in.” Toby said with a sigh, his eyes focusing on Jim. Hoping that the universe will be kind enough to keep him alive. 

* * *

After a few hours, the sedative the doctors gave Claire wore off. She began to feel extremely sore in some parts of her body, most likely where the more severe injuries she suffered were treated. At some point, her parents were able to see her when Claire was moved to her own room. Most of the time it was just her mother scolding the young teen while her father watched with a sympathetic look. Like always, the councilwoman had to make it about her instead of her own daughter.

At this point, Claire had learned to just tune out the lectures. She had heard it enough times to understand her mother. That she’d be disappointed in her no matter what if Claire didn’t fit the perfect image the councilwoman envisioned. Soon, the young teen had the room to herself. As she waited for some of her friends to come, her phone began to vibrate from the counter on the right side.

Claire picked it up and that it was Blinky. She took a deep breath and braced herself. “Hello?” 

“Ah, Lady Claire. Is Master Jim with you? There is something important we need to discuss and he hasn’t been answering my calls.” The troll greeted, his voice sounding somewhat relieved but still worried.

The young teen bit her lip, before saying, “Blinky. We were in an accident and-” 

“Great gronka morka! Are you alright?!” 

“I’m fine, Toby is too, but Jim...... he..... he was hurt pretty badly. I don't know what happened to him yet but I'll let you know as soon as I find out.” Claire explained nervously. She had started to wonder where the redhead even was since there was no sign of him despite being hours since Claire last saw him.

“Oh dear. This.... this is not good. What are we going to do now?” By the sounds of it, Blinky was talking about something completely different.

“What’s going on Blinky?” She asked.

“I’m afraid that this night will not get any better. The Tribunal has requested for the arrest of Master Jim.”

“What?! Why?”

“Apparently Usurna has evidence that Master Jim has released Gunmar into the surface.” This could not be happening right now. Jim was not in any shape of getting out of this hospital, but knowing how stubborn trolls could be, there was no telling what the Tribunal would do if the trollhunter didn’t show.

“Can you just explain what happened and just postpone it?” She knew all too well that trolls weren’t so kind to humans, especially for Jim’s case, but surely they can give him some form of sympathy and stop this.

“I’m afraid with an accusation as severe as this, it cannot be dropped so easily for the Tribunal are very adamant for punishment. If it’ll not be Master Jim, surely they’ll find someone else who was involved in it to take responsibility.” Claire quickly dropped her previous sentiment once Blinky clarified that this situation was not going to be easy to get out of. “Telling the ordeal you’ve been through tonight could give you for a few days at the very least. However, that’ll make the Tribunal restless which might not help your case.” 

The young girl pinched the bridge of her nose, their options weren’t great, but there wasn’t much they could do. “Well, you’re doing your best. That’s really all I can ask for. Me and Toby will try and be there as soon as possible.” 

“Very well then. I wish the best for you all.” As Blinky hung up, Claire sank herself further to the mattress of the hospital bed. Too much, there was too much going on with little time to actually process it. She then heard a knock on her door and saw Toby standing in the middle of the door frame.

“Hey Claire.” He sheepishly said. 

“Toby, you just missed a call I got from Blinky.”

That caught the redhead’s attention as slowly walked closer to his friend. “Really? What did he say?” 

Claire sighed as she began to fiddle with her phone. “Nothing good really, but before I tell you, any word on Jim?”

A tired smile formed on Toby’s lips. “He survived the surgery. Dr. L says that he has a long way to go but he’s doing fine all things considered.” The young teen felt a lot of her anxieties washed away and glanced at her phone. 

“That’s.... that’s good to hear. I’m going text Blinky about right now.” 

“Uhh sure you do that, but while you’re at it, there’s just one more thing I need to say, or show you in this case.” Toby didn’t make it seem like it was anything bad, but he was good at sugar coating things. 

The redhead looked outside from the room and made a small gesture to someone to come inside, and that someone was Steve. 

Claire blinked in surprise. “Oh. Hi Steve.” 

Toby scratched the back of his head while saying, “Sorry I didn’t come sooner. I was giving out some good ol’ exposition to our “buddy” over here.” 

The tension then came back to her and lifted herself out of bed. “You told him?” 

“Easy there. He saw Draal the moment we found Jim, so there was no point in lying.” Toby was leaving something out, she could tell by the tone of his voice. 

“The stupid amulet called my name,” Steve muttered. “But I guess the person who had it before is supposed to die.” It was obvious that he was uncomfortable at the thought, and who would be?

Claire stayed silent with a blank stare before saying, “I thought you said that Jim was alright,” with a frantic voice

“He is! It’s just that the amulet picked Steve for some reason, but before you take the chance to freak out more, mind telling us the not-so-good news Blinky gave you?” Right, there was also that. Man does this day keep getting better and better. 

“Uhh, he said that the Tribunal wants to arrest Jim for releasing Gunmar.” Toby’s eyes widened in shock while Steve’s shoulders tensed up.

“That’s bad, right?” The blonde teen asked. 

“Yeah, it really is. So what do we do now?” The redhead moved closer to his friend and sat next to her. 

“We have to go to Trollmarket as soon as possible. Or least until I get discharged. If we don’t show, things will probably get worse.” Claire explained with a sigh.

“Do I have to come?” Steve didn’t want to ask that question, he really didn’t. But this was starting to sound serious, and maybe there was a small chance that he could help. How exactly? The blonde teen wasn’t sure. 

“It’s really risky, especially since you never had any combat training.” As much as a frustrating person Steve was, she would never wish any harm on him. And if what she heard about Trollmarket’s reaction when they found out that Jim was the trollhunter was true, then bringing him along could lead to the exact opposite of what Claire wanted.

“But what if the Tribunal thinks we’re lying about Jim? We’re not someone who they really trust, and he could be backup, a fancy sword made of magic can do much wonders as a defense.” Toby suggested with a shrug. “And if something goes wrong, he has you, me, and Aaarrrgghh to help him out.”

The two boys watched the young girl weighing the options. Sure, it was two out of one, but Claire was smart. And at this point, she was silently placed as leader until further notice. “I can’t believe I’m going through with this, but we’re all pretty much screwed right now. So, do you have any trouble sneaking out of the house at night Steve?” 

“Not at all.” He had successfully snuck out a few times to go to some late-night parties, this shouldn’t be any different.

* * *

In one of the private offices of the hospital, Barbara laid head first on the desk. She was on break and finally had time to let all of her exhaustion set in. The information given to her about Jim’s condition and the outcomes it might lead to. 

The worst of her son’s injuries was the one on his spine. The doctors stated that most likely that he will have permanent damage to his nerves. There was no telling he would regain complete function of his limbs or would have to deal with something else. Either way, Jim’s body won’t work the same way as it used to. 

As Barbara put her hands above her head, an elderly voice called to her. “Ah, there you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” The doctor straightened herself and turned her chair around to see Toby’s grandmother. “Mrs. Domzalski-”

“Dear please, how many times do I need to remind you to call me Nana.” The old woman teased as she entered the room.

Barbara let out a tired laugh, removing her glasses to rub her eyes. “Old habit I guess. Though why were you trying to find me? I discharged Toby a few hours ago.” 

“He wants to check on the councilwoman’s daughter. They’ve been friends for awhile you know.” Nana explained. “And also wanted to see how you were doing.” “What you’d expect I suppose.” She wanted to grieve, to let all of those raw emotions free, but Barbara just couldn’t at this point. And she knew that there wouldn’t be enough time even to do that if she could.

“Dear, I don’t believe I know the answer to that. Only you do.” Nana placed her hand onto Babara’s left shoulder. “And if you’re willing to talk to me about it, then I’ll know. It’s never healthy to keep everything bottled up.” 

Barbara allowed the old woman’s word to sink in. “ I will give anything to do that, but I’m just so tired right now. I don’t have enough energy to even fall apart and cry for hours.” 

“You know for someone whose job is to take care of people, you don’t seem to do that for yourself.” Nana never understood that. She could forgive those who didn’t have any extensive knowledge of health, they just didn’t know any better. Doctors, however, did. The old woman could remember the countless times she has seen medical professionals ignore their health.

“Well, I’d like to think that we’re the biggest hypocrites on earth,” Barbara explained with a quiet voice. 

* * *

It took two days for Claire to get discharged, the doctors told her parents that she just had to take it easy for a few days. That statement made the young girl second guess herself about going to trollmarket but pushed the idea aside. Sooner the better, because there was no telling when the Tribunal’s patience would wear thin. When the night came, Claire took her shadow staff and created a portal while a small changeling watched from behind.

“Remember NotEnrique, you have to keep watch to make sure mom and dad don’t know I’m gone.” 

“I hear ya. And I’ll let ya know if they come running over here.” The changeling added. Claire smiles at him before entering the portal. 

In Arcadia’s canals, Toby and Steve stood below the bridge there waiting for the young girl to arrive. The two never said a word to each other for a good while now. Something about being alone with Steve made the redhead uneasy, bringing back the memory of him and Claire trying to retrieve the bridge pieces. Meanwhile, the blonde teen was too anxious about seeing trolls to even talk to Toby. He tried to play it cool at the hospital when learning that there was an entire society hidden underground in their town, but when Steve made it home, that’s where he took the time to openly show his nervous breakdown in his room.

Everything that felt out of place in Arcadia suddenly made sense. But very quickly he wanted to forget it, the mantle of being a trollhunter sounded too dangerous for his taste. Steve had no intentions of dying, and going through with this sounds like the exact opposite of what he wanted. However, the blonde teen would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. And who wouldn’t? It’d be near impossible to just ignore the existence of magic and trolls and not look into it. 

Steve’s were ripped away at the sight of a dark portal appearing in front of the two boys. Claire then hopped out of it and it quickly disappeared. She pulled her hair back and exhaled. 

“Okay. We’re all here, now it’s time to face the music. Would you like to do the honors, Toby?” The redhead nodded and took out an orange crystal that had a wooden handle attached to it. 

Toby made his way to the canal’s wall, with Claire and Steve following behind, and began to draw a curved line as big as he could. Once he was done, the redhead pressed his hand on the wall and in a matter of seconds, it began to break away into various pieces and disappear. Steve watched as Toby quietly went inside the glowy entrance. He extended his arm but pulled it away when it made contact with the magical wall. 

“ _It’s now or never._ ” The blonde thought before jumping headfirst inside the canal’s walls. 

What he was met with were massive blue crystal staircases that twirled around until they reached the ground. The blonde teen stared in awe by how beautiful the sight was, but had to divert his attention away to getting all the way down. Claire noticed her classmate’s reaction and decided to catch up to him.

“You know. I really wished this was under better circumstances.” Steve jumped at the sudden sound of the girl’s voice, almost falling off the stairs. He looked at her in confusion, so she continued as they walked. “Coming here for the first time, it’s a one of a kind moment. But the difference between now and before is that there were no lives at stake or trolls coming to arrest us. I just hope that when all this blows over, you get to share the same experience that we all had.” 

It was very strange. Hearing someone genuinely talking to him, was it supposed to feel like this? First from Coach Lawrence, then from Lake, and now Claire, would he be able to get used to such a thing? As the three of them walked down the final set of stairs, two large creatures, which Steve assumed were trolls, pointed their spears at them. The trolls barely looked like the one he saw in the woods, but that didn’t make them less terrifying. 

Toby and Claire stood in front of the blonde teen and took their weapons out with a defensive stance. It didn’t take long for more trolls to contribute to this ambush. They all looked the same except one, who came towards the group. Their appearance was formal and very fancy in Steve’s perspective.

“Where is the trollhunter?” Usurna hissed while glaring at them.

“Didn’t Blinky tell you? He’s at the hospital and is in no condition to come right now.” The troll scoffed at Toby’s notion.

“You could easily be lying. Trying to hide him from our grasp.” 

The redhead glanced at Claire and muttered, “Told you they wouldn’t believe us.” 

She turned to the blonde teen with a nervous expression. “Steve, take out the amulet.” He did as he was told and heard many gasps from the trolls at the sight of him. “Read the incantation.” 

“ _Incantation_?” Steve looked at the small object more closely and noticed there were words inscribed on it. “For the Glory of Merlin, Daylight is Mine to Command.” He read slowly. 

The amulet began ticking and its blue aura shined. Armor then appeared out of nowhere and was placed onto Steve. It felt tight at first before the armor adjusted to his size. With a flash, Steve was holding a sword, which made itself slightly bigger than before.

“Holy shit.” He whispered, amazed by such magic. 

“So..... the trollhunter died, and amulet dared chose another fleshbag to hold the mantle,” Usurna stated, disgusted at that fact.

“Did not listen to what I said. He’s still alive.” Toby quickly corrected, but before he could say anything else Usurna spoke.

“I believe it does not matter at this point. Arrest the human trollhunter.” She commanded before turning their back on them.

“What?!” The three of them shouted in unison. 

The troll guards grabbed Steve by both arms and dragged him away. A fight or flight instinct came over Steve, an instinct that has been proven useful to him countless times. “Let go of me! Or else I’ll beat the hell out of you!” He thrashed and kicked at the trolls, yelling with all his might. But it was futile. 

Claire ran for Usurna and blocked her path. “You can’t arrest Steve! He had no idea about all of this! Wouldn’t it make more sense to arrest the people who took part in the release of Gunmar?!” 

“You have no authority over me, fleshbag. If James is unable to attend to his own arrest, might as well let this new trollhunter to fill in the role.” The troll pushed past the girl with such force to almost make her fall to the ground. “And besides, it’s more than Gunmar’s escape that will be put into question.” 

As Claire helplessly watched Usurna leave, Toby sprinted to Blinky’s library for aid. Because this was not going according to what they planned at all. God, could there be one day where everything went smoothly without any issues?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was longer than I expected, but I satisfied with it. Next chapter we'll see how the events of Unbecoming will play out for Steve's case.


	3. Does the End Justify the Means?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets arrested by the Tribunal and has to make a choice to either go to trial or give up the amulet.

Waiting for the children to enter to trollmarket was absolutely nerve-racking for Blinky and Aaaarrrgghh. They had no knowledge of troll law and didn’t have enough time to fully educate themselves about it. The large troll tried his best to help his companion, but books and fancy words were never his strong suit. After a few days, they finally got a message from Toby that they’d be here tonight. As Blinky was trying to organize which books would be proven useful to their case, until the redhead suddenly slid into their cave with a panicked expression. 

“Blinky! We have a huge problem!” Toby shouted.

“By Deya’s grace, calm down Tobias. What happened?” The two trolls huddle around the teen as he gasps for breath. “Where is Claire and your classmate?”

“So you know when I explained about Steve?” The historian remembered clearly about that conversation, so Blinky nodded.

“Of course.” He responded.

“Well Usurna decided to arrest him instead of me or Claire. That wasn’t supposed to happen!” This was most puzzling for Blinky unless this crime extended beyond the subject of Gunmar’s release.

“How odd. Could it be that this case requires the trollhunter to be arrested, regardless of whoever wields it.” Binlky wondered to himself. “Come, we must go to the holding cells at once.” 

When they got there, Toby could hardly call this room a holding cell since the “cells” were just cages hanging in the air. “I’m not going locked up like some kind of animal!” The redhead saw Steve with Claire by his side standing in front of Vendel and Usurna. “Whatever Lake did has nothing to do with me.”

“Be as it may, trollkind has relied too much on Merlin’s antiquated magic to shelter us, and now look where we are. The trollhunter has failed trollkind and unleashed Gunmar to the world. You will face trial in front of the Tribunal for James’ crime due to his absence. If found guilty-” 

“The consequences could be.... Death.” Vendel finished solemnly.

Steve tensed at the sound of that, would he seriously be killed for a mistake he even didn’t do? “Woah! Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme? Steve has only been the trollhunter for less than a week and this is his first time using the armor. Yes, I get that this is for Jim’s crimes but can’t you take it easy for him?” Toby attempted to reason, trying his best to keep his cool. 

Usurna's expression did not soften at the redhead’s suggestion. “There is mercy set on the table. If you allow us to destroy the amulet, we shall exile all of you, but no one will be harmed.” 

“Really?” To Steve, it sounded like a deal of a lifetime. He won’t have to die and they could walk away scot-free, this all just didn’t seem worth fighting for. 

“But without the amulet, there won’t be a trollhunter. How will you defeat Gunmar?” Claire asked suspiciously. To here, they’ve done so much to find a way to kill Gunmar, and she wouldn’t let all that effort be for nothing. 

“That is for our kind to decide. Not for some human children.” Usurna said with a dominating tone. 

Anger began to rise from Claire. “So that’s it? You’re just pissed that two humans just so happened to be chosen?” 

Usurna gave the young girl a bitter expression before Blinky pulled Claire closed to his side. “My dear child, I understand your grievances, but Usurna is not someone you want to make an enemy of.” Blinky warned quietly for only her to hear. “I apologize on behalf of the welp, we shall accept the terms you have given us.” 

As Usurna scoffed, Claire forced herself to stay silent, tightening his fist as hard as she could to restrain herself, and allowed the elders to leave. 

“The trial begins at dawn. You have until then to decide.” Vendel looked down at Toby and Claire. “Let’s hope you choose the right path.” 

Steve was then shoved into one of the cages by the guards, the door closing behind him. The cage was then lifted from the air at a height that would be too dangerous to jump from. 

“Do we really have to wait until dawn to make a choice?” Claire blinked when she glanced up from where the blonde teen was and narrowed her eyes. “It seems like the answer is pretty clear.”

“I’m afraid that’s not true Steve. Without the amulet, we do not stand a chance at defeating Gunmar.” Blinky added as he took a few steps forwards towards the teens.

“But if I keep the amulet I’ll die!” He shouted. His voice was filled with fear while grabbing the bars with all his might.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s a chance that we can win this trial, right?” Toby looked at the two trolls for reassurance, but they grimaced in response. 

“When trolls are put into trial, it’s uncommon for a defendant to be proven innocent.” The historian then quickly closed his mouth shut once he saw the redhead’s glare. 

“Uncommon or not, I’m not taking that risk. My life is not worth sacrificing over a piece of jewelry.” Steve tried to take the amulet out of his chest but to no avail. “Why won’t this stupid thing come off?” He scowled.

“It doesn’t come off when you’re in distress,” Toby explained bluntly. 

“No shit I am! And I don’t care what any of you say, I am not keeping it.” Steve finished with the stomp, which shook the cage.

“You’re not seeing the bigger picture here. Gunmar wants to take back the surface world. If you choose to walk away from this, all of humanity will be in danger.” Claire just wanted Steve to understand, but she knew how stubborn he was. Claire waited for the blonde teen to say more or to do anything really but he stayed silent, all while avoiding her gaze. She wasn’t sure how else to convince Steve, other than letting fate take the wheel and hope that he’ll change his mind before dawn. 

Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea. Claire sighed and turned to the others, “Let’s go to the library.”

“Huh. Why?” Toby asked in bewilderment. 

“If Steve refuses to listen to what we say, then trying to change his mind will be a waste of time. In the end, it’s his choice. So might as well prepare ourselves for everything.”

Steve didn’t bother watching them leave, and coincidentally that’s when armor finally came off. “Of course now of all times, you start working.” He muttered. 

The longer Steve looked at the amulet, the more he felt his anger grow. Lake was stupid to even keep the damn thing. Who would risk their life like this? They were just teenagers. The vivid image of holding his dying classmate crawled back into his mind. The blonde teen immediately slammed his hand against the side of his head, trying to push that memory far to the back of his mind as possible.

“What makes you so important enough that I have to gamble away my own life?” He glanced once again at the magical object and has had enough of it. “You just make everything worse and everyone around you miserable. No one would ever want that in their life.” Steve hissed with such venom in his voice.

He straightened himself up and threw the amulet across the room. Steve leaned into the cage and dropped to his knees. Toby and Claire’s pleas at him echoed in his thoughts. No, he wasn’t going to change his mind. The amulet made a mistake when it chose Lake, and it continued to do so when it chose him. 

Steve didn’t notice the amulet ticking rapidly. A bright orb is released from it and flies out of the holding cells all the way to the hero’s forge. The magic makes its way to Unkar’s petrified body. It placed itself where the amulet used to be and the armor’s markings began to glow. Back at the holding cells, Steve continued to be lost in his thoughts until he heard a voice all of a sudden.

“So the amulet made a mistake, eh?

“What the-!” The blond teen jumped from where he sat, clearly startled by his new “visitor”.

“You and that other fleshbag would not be the first.” Steve rubbed his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was correct. 

“God, and I thought this day couldn’t get any weirder. Wait, what do you mean it’s not the first time the amulet made a mistake?” He questioned while trying to keep his focus on the magic orb. 

“Do you not know who I am?” The voice almost sounded offended.

“I’m new to all of this magic business so no.” Steve tried his best to keep his distance away from the strange newcomer. 

“Well I didn’t have much luck being a trollhunter, either. Couldn’t even last a day, I was ripped limb from limb.” 

“Wow. Sucks to you.” Steve remarked, though very disturbed at this newfound knowledge.

“You don’t say? For that, I’m known as Unkar the Unfortunate.” The spirit announced.

“That’s great and all but why are you here?” The blonde crossed his arms as he was becoming impatient. 

“You’re so close to giving up the amulet yet you have doubts. Do you really wish to be the one to end a long line of grand warriors?” Unkar explained. “Many have sacrificed for this cause, even your fleshbag friend.”

“He’s not my friend, and why should I protect people who don't give two shits about me.” Steve interjects fiercely, now having the confidence of bringing himself closer to the spirit.

“Do you think Trollmarket simply accepted your predecessor with open arms? Carrying this mantle is never easy. But what do I know? I never got the chance to experience those hardships.” 

The blonde teen pinched the bridge of his nose before saying, “Wow, you’re really proving your point there,” with a sarcastic tone.

“You think I would leave this as just a pep talk?” Unkar let out a single laugh before clarifying, “For a fleshbag like you, more must be done for you to truly see what it means to be a trollhunter.” 

“Now hold on-” Suddenly the troll’s spirit began to shine brightly, forcing Steve to cover his eyes. 

The next thing he knew, Steve was back on the surface of Arcadia, standing on top of the canal’s bridge. It noticeably was no longer nighttime, but there were too many clouds that blocked off the sun from ever appearing. The harsh winds shook the trees back and forth, and the faint sounds of thunder could be heard from afar. 

“My sixteenth birthday, but do I get a vespa? No.” Steve looked to his left to see Lake trying to paddle as fast as he could in his bike while looking behind. Didn’t Lake’s birthday happen months ago? “I get a food processor and killer flying troll!”

From the other side, a large creature with wings came flying down, claws ready to snatch the trollhunter. “Lake look out!” The blonde teen shouted as he saw his classmate turn around just in time for the winged troll to grab him by the shoulders with an ear-piercing screech, flying off into the air. 

* * *

Claire and Toby glanced at the stacks of books that were laid all over Blinky’s library. “So these are all the books about troll law?” She asked.

“Well, I wouldn’t say all of the books, rather the ones that seem most necessary for both of you to learn. Especially in a short amount of time.” Blinky started passing a few books to the two teens. 

“You mean if Steve decides to keep the amulet,” Toby adds while glaring at the book he was given.

“Toby-”

“He’s going to give it to the Tribunal Claire! Steve cares for no one but himself, you should know that already.” Toby couldn’t understand why Claire was defending him so much. Steve says he’s trying to be a better person but that didn't change the fact that he was a bully most of their lives and tormented so many people under his own volition. 

“Maybe, but the amulet must’ve chosen Steve for a reason. So forgive me if I have faith that he’ll make the right choice once dawn sets.” Aaarrrgghh gently separated the two so their argument would cease. 

“You say that Steve now wields the amulet, despite master Jim being alive, correct?” The historian asked, hoping that he wasn’t mistaken. 

Toby nodded before stating, “I’m not sure how, it didn’t look broken or anything.” 

“Been long time since that happened.” Aaarrrgghh recalled to Blinky. 

“Hold the phone, so this has happened before?” Claire questioned, very much intrigued by this fact.

“Yes. If a trollhunter were to be severely wounded to the point where they would be out of commission for quite some time, then the amulet can grant them the power to choose someone temporarily to take their place.” The historian explained, looking through a page in which it had the image of Merlin’s creation.

“So it’s like picking a substitute.” Toby suggested with a shrug.

“If you wish to view it like that then I suppose so.”

“Okay then, why didn’t you tell me or Jim about this from day one? Sure sounds like it’d be a useful thing to know.” The redhead didn’t want to get mad at Blinky, he was sure that the historian had his reasons. But it rubbed him the wrong way that it had taken his best friend from almost dying to find this out. 

“The trollhunter themselves cannot control when to use this power, only the amulet can. And even then, it is extremely rare that they choose someone else when given the opportunity. As you know trolls are very adamant to doing things alone.” The historian clarified. 

“That means Jim chose Steve when the amulet gave the all-clear to pick someone else in the woods.” Claire stated, more to herself. There was a long, awkward pause amongst the four of them. 

“Why though?” Toby quickly raised his hands up once Claire turned to him with a furious expression. “I’m just saying. Wouldn’t Jim pick someone like you or me? You know, someone who knows how to deal with magic and trolls.” 

“I don’t think the question of why matters at this point. Steve’s the trollhunter for now, so we have to make sure he doesn’t give up the amulet and die.” It was quite mind-boggling that Jim would choose Steve of all people, considering their history. She remembered their conversation from the campsite. Sure, maybe the two have grown closer, but it certainly wasn’t enough to explain this decision.

“And how exactly do we do that? None of us can change Steve’s mind. Like you said, and the Tribunal are pretty head-strong on their case.” 

“Well, we make a plan. For whatever happens. And we can start that by learning how to be good lawyers.” Claire opened the book she had and gestured Toby to do the same. “Okay Blinky, where do we start?” 

* * *

Steve sprinted towards Lake and jumped in hopes of catching him, but he was too far away. The winged-troll soon disappeared through the clouds as the blond teen landed back to the ground. Steve looked at the sky in hopes of finding something, he wasn’t just going to stand there like an idiot despite the many confused thoughts that were swarming through his head. 

“ _Auuurrghh! Too high! Too high! There’s no way I can ever get down from here!_ ” There was no source of sound to Lake’s voice, as if he was everywhere. His voice sounded so close yet no matter where Steve looked, Lake nowhere to be found. 

“ _The amulet. I need the amulet._ ” Although it was hard to see, the blonde teen could see a small bright flash of light from above. 

“ _Come on Jim. Hit the stalking, Hit it. But what am I going to do after the stalking lets go of me, the drop from here will kill me- shit!_ ” Steve could a distant screech coming from the winged troll and bit his lip, then noticed Toby and Aaarrrgghh making their way to the bridge from the corner of his eye.

The redhead and his troll companion made no acknowledgment at all that Steve was here with them. “Hello? Am I invisible or something? He tried putting his hand on Toby’s shoulder, but it seemed to phase right through it. Steve was alarmed by this and quickly retracted his hand back. “I didn’t mean it literally!” 

“ _Let go of me. Let go of me. Let go of me! Let go of me!-_ ” The blonde teen hit his forehead with his palm in an attempt to somehow cancel out his classmate’s voice. 

“He’s up there! How do we get up there?” Toby asked Aaarrrgghh as he managed to spot Lake. 

“No wings.” 

More questions continued to puzzle Steve, and hearing Lake repeating the same phrase in his head was starting to drive him crazy. The trollhunter then switched to cursing multiple times in fear, to screaming whenever lightning struck. Steve could feel the fear Lake was going through. The fear of falling to such heights that he could die on impact, the fear of not knowing how stalking had planned to dispose of him, and the fear of the lighting surrounding them.

“ _Too high.... Can’t breath.... Not enough air._ ” Fear was then slowly replaced by dread as Lake’s thoughts began to drift apart, with only the thunderous electricity to keep him alert. 

Steve wanted to get out of here, he wanted to silence out the thoughts he was forced to hear. The blond teen tried leaving the scene, only to be thrown back to where he was by an invisible force once he made it to the end of the bridge. “ _You don’t need weapons. Your environment can sometimes be the weapon._ ” 

Before Steve could wonder why he heard Blinky’s voice overlapping with Lake’s, the trollhunter thought, “ _The lighting ..... I could die.... The lighting is how I’ll finish this fight…...I could die....”_

“What?!” There was no way Lake had the guts to do such a dangerous feat. Steve frantically tried to find where the stalking and Lake were in the sky. 

“ _I’m going to end this one on my own terms..... Please be quick, please be quick, please be quick. For the love of god hurry up please!-_ ” Then an ear-piercing sound was all Steve could hear. He wished it was a scream, but it was too distorted and there was no longer any hint of the trollhunter’s voice. It was like hearing nails scratching on a chalkboard. The blonde teen quickly tried to block the noise off by covering his ears, but it was pointless. He could still hear it very clearly. 

Soon the noise was abruptly gone, and there was a long pause of silence. Steve slowly lowered his hands with much hesitation, it even took him a while to realize that there was a few tears streaming down his face. 

“Hurry! Hurry, Hurry!” Toby shouted at Aaarrrgghh, watching his best friend fall from the sky. As Steve was attempting to register what had transpired, Aaarrrgghh jumped and managed to catch the unconscious trollhunter just in time from hitting the hard concrete of the bridge. 

The large troll looks down at Lake, who began to open his eyes. “ _I’m still here....._ ”

Before the blonde teen could get closer to the group to see if Lake was okay, everything around him disappeared like dust being blown away from the wind, giving Steve the realization that it was nothing more than a memory, and one that wasn’t even his. Now stuck in an empty, back void, Steve began to call out, “Alright. I’m officially done with all this magic shit! I don’t even know what the hell is going on at this point.” 

“I told you fleshbag, I’m going to make you see what it means to be a trollhunter.” Steve turned around and saw the spirit of Unkar’s.

“Okay one, I have a name. Two, I’d rather have the long boring pep talk than go through whatever you put me through again.” He snapped with a fierce tone, now trying to swat the spirit away but always managed to reappear. 

“Ah but what of your predecessor? You knew very quickly that it was a memory of his. Must have taken a lot of bravery to kill the stalking that way. Why do you think he did such a thing?” 

Steve thought for a moment, but was having much difficulty finding the answer. “I...I don’t know. Lake thought that he was going to die no matter what he did-”

“And yet the human trollhunter is alive. What would you think would happen if he let the stalking live?” Steve still struggled to find the answer, so Unkar continued. “I see that you have yet to figure it out.” 

“What do you expect me to do?” Steve asked, his voice breaking. “Clearly I don’t have the answer you're looking for, and making me go through someone else’s memory didn’t work.” 

“So far.” The spirit clarified. “Now you know that there’s something you must look for in these memories.”

The blonde teen questioned, “Hold on, what do you mean about that?” with an anxious expression before Unkar vanished.

Soon enough, the void where Steve stood began to take shape. It was replaced by rough, rocky walls that had green carvings that glowed, sharp orange crystals that seemed to act like bars in a prison cell. Once Steve looked around to see where exactly he was, a small dark room made him realize that it was, in fact, a prison cell. 

“ _Not again._ ” He thought bitterly. But Unkar did say there was a reason he was showing Steve Lake’s memories, so perhaps he should listen to the spirit. 

“Dictatious! Bring the trollhunter for another battle.” A distant voice bellowed, and despite being able to barely hear it, the blonde teen could feel so much hate through each word. 

“ _This is.... Sooner than I expected._ ” Steve spotted Lake sitting in the corner of the room, where the light source was the weakest. “ _He’s not stupid, Gunmar knows that you have a limit. He wants to wear you down._ ” 

Steve tried pushing down the creepy feeling of hearing Lake’s thoughts as if it was his own. “ _God everything hurts. I just want to go home_.” He wasn’t successful.

The sounds of footsteps echoed in the prison and only grew stronger as time passed. “Here they come.” Outside of the cell was a green troll that looked eerily similar to Blinky, and two larger trolls by his side, who were most likely guards Steve assumed. 

“Get up trollhunter. Lord Gunmar has requested your return, as always.” The green troll explained while removing the orange crystal as well.

“ _How much will it hurt this time Dictatious?_ ,” is what Jim thought, but he said out loud, “Hate to break it to you but I don’t think I can make it.” Steve was not ready at all hearing Lake’s voice being so dry and hollow, just how long was he stuck here? 

“You will battle against Gunmar’s soldiers, no excuse will suffice whatsoever.” Dictatious was beginning to lose his patience rather quickly.

The trollhunter didn’t look fazed from his response, just tired really. “Well, if you really want me to fight. I don’t suppose any of you know how to fix a broken leg?” He remarked with a small smile he managed to muster. “ _Amongst other things....._ ”

“Do you wish for us to remove your leg trollhunter?” Steve was startled that the troll was being actually serious about it, and he could sense that Lake felt the same way. 

The trollhunter pictured the idea of his leg being viciously torn apart by a Gumm-Gumm, and it made Steve sick to his stomach.“On second thought, I think I’m good.” Lake muttered with a shaky voice. “Do you have something rigid like a big stick or something and some cloth?” 

“Why do you ask?” Dictatious asked in an uncaring manner.

Lake rolled his eyes. “ _Why do I even bother? They wouldn’t care less if I was blind._ ” The trollhunter lifted himself up with the support of the walls of his cell. “Nevermind. Just drag to the arena like you always do.” 

He limped his way to the cell's entrance and sure enough, the two guards grabbed Lake by the arms and pulled him out of the prison. As Lake was being pulled away, an invisible force began slowly pushing Steve, as if the walls were closing in on him.

“ _This is new._ ” He thought, then brought himself closer to the group. 

Wherever they were, it was certainly the worst living conditions he had ever seen. Any form of life beyond its inhabitants seems to be nonexistent, unless rocks count as forms of life. Any signs of natural nights appeared nonexistent as well, as if the sun had disappeared. 

_“Is this going to be my last?_ ” Lake thought. “ _I want it to be. I want it to be so bad. No one is coming for me, but it won’t make things better, I know it won’t._ ” 

Steve wondered how brutal this place must’ve been, which then led to the question: just how long was Lake stuck here? When Domzalski was trying to explain the whole troll business with him, he said Lake was trapped in a place called the Darklands.

_“It’s a super creepy place. Everything around you looks dead and it’s a pain to figure out where you’re going,” He sighed, then said, “To be honest, we were kind of lucky that we managed to get out in one piece.”_

From the vague description Steve got, it wasn’t so far-fetched that this place was the Darklands. Soon enough, they made it to their destination. There were tons of guards everywhere inside some kind of area, and in the far-middle was a looming throne that Steve was sure any stereotypical villain would revel in sitting on. In the throne was a troll whose appearance was covered in the shadows, presumably Gunmar. 

The two guards dropped Jim off the ground and exited the room. “The trollhunter Dark Lord, as you requested.” Dictatious said. 

“Get up.” The large troll demanded with a growl. “At the very least pretend you are a worthy opponent.” 

Lake slowly looked at Gunmar in the eye, and summoned his sword from his hands and jabbed to the ground, lifting himself up and using it as a support.

With no warning, various guards began charging at the trollhunter. As Lake glided to the sides away from the Gumm-Gumms’ attack, his broken leg was roaring with pain. Lake managed to keep a straight face, but Steve could hear it, the agonizing screams that were pushed into his thoughts. One of the Gumm-Gumms managed to hit the trolllhunter from the back of the head with their spear. Lake was quick to summon his shield when the Gumm-Gumm striked again. He diverted the weapon in front of him away with his shield and thrusted his sword through the Gumm-Gumm’s chest. The large troll petrified and crumbled into pieces. 

Steve watched as trollhunter continued to fight relentlessly against Gunmar’s soldiers, and the longer Lake was fighting back, the more irritated the Skullcrusher was becoming. The blonde teen was in awe of how well Lake held on his own in a fight. After another Gumm-Gumm was slain, the trollhunter abruptly stopped and stumbled down. He gripped the leg Steve remembered was broken with a shuttered breath. 

“ _Hurts...._ ” Lake repeatedly thought as he winced. “ _I knew it was going to get worse if I moved too much_ ” 

The trollhunter could sense the presence of another Gumm-Gumm attempting to surround him. “ _Gunmar never seems to run out of soldiers._ ” Lake swung his sword diagonally at a Gumm-Gumm that was in front of him, but the newfound pain of his leg made him lose his footing. The large soldier swung the butt of their spear to Lake’s stomach with enough force to make him fall to his knees. But the Gumm-Gumm didn’t stop, they continued to hit Lake with their spear until it looked like he wasn’t able to stand back. 

Gunmar seemed pleased, so the Gumm-Gumm swiftly made his way to the Skullcrusher’s throne and bowed to him, like a robot following its master’s commander. Steve heard the quiet coughs coming from Lake. He wiped away the blood from his mouth and slowly reached and grabbed his sword. “ _I can still take out one more._ ”

“Oh no.” Steve knew what the trollhunter was going to do, and it was a bad idea. Steve ran in front of Lake to stop him, but the trollhunter fazed right past the blonde teen, giving him the harsh reminder that all of this was just a memory, and he couldn’t change anything about this. 

Lake raced towards the Gumm-Gumm and stabbed his sword deep into their back. As Gunmar’s soldier turned to a pile of lifeless rocks, the trollhunter smiled in satisfaction at the sight of the Skullcrusher’s shocked expression because to him, this was the only kind victory he was ever going to get. 

Gunmar soon became enraged, he slammed his fist onto the handle of his throne and stood up with the look of murder in his eyes. But Dictatious quickly ran in front of the large troll. “Lord Gunmar, calm yourself. Don’t let this flessbag get to you so easily. Patience remember.” He advised with a shaky voice.

The trollhunter watched as Gumnar stared down at him and sat back down to his throne. “Take him back to his cell.” The Skullcrusher gritted his teeth. 

The guards grabbed Lake and began dragging him out of the arena. On the way back, Steve could only hear the trollhunter’s abstract thoughts that felt too disconnected, itoo uncanny for him to listen to. The Gumm-Gumms threw Lake into his cell and closed the crystal bars. Lake laid in the same position for a while, still coughing up his blood, until he started to laugh. It started as quiet and soft until it slowly became loud enough that it echoed throughout the prison. 

There was one thought in the trollhunter’s mind that, for some reason, was absolutely entertaining for him. That no matter how hard his enemies try ~~and maybe even himself at this point,~~ he can never seem to die. Many memories started to resurface. Steve couldn’t see it, but he sensed the feeling. That cold, bone-chilling feeling as if you looked at death straight in the eye and dread that comes with it. However the feeling always seems to last for a short amount of time and be replaced with pure relief, but the impact is still there, and it never loses its value. 

When the laughter died down, Lake hissed as the pain of his injuries finally settled in. He dragged himself to the corner of the wall and leaned onto it. “ _Gunmar is going to make me regret what I did back there next time._ ” The trollhunter lazily tried to wipe off as much blood as he could from his face, but only made more of a mess than it originally was. 

As Steve bent down to his knees and felt nothing but pity and regret for his classmate. “Got to hand it to you.” He muttered. “Takes a lot of work to pretend like none of this ever happened.” Steve thought of all of the strange occurrences surrounding Lake for the past few months. It was unnerving, everything seemed so clear now when it’d be damn impossible to connect the dots single-handedly before. 

The blonde teen could feel how much the trollhunter missed training his friends. How much he missed hearing Blinky’s. How much he missed Aaarrrgghh. But most of all, how much he missed his mother’s presence. It was a warm, bittersweet emotion that Steve hasn’t really felt for a long time in such a way as this.

“ _They’re safe._ ” Lake thought. For the trolllhunter, it didn’t matter that he was going to be stuck here for the rest of his life, because Lake did what he came for. 

“ _Am I ever going to see my baby brother?_ ” Claire’s voice echoed. It was fine, if they were fine, he was fine. “ _A trollhunter answers every call. No matter what._ ” Steve turned and looked at Lake, before everything disappeared. 

“So?” Unkar asked. The two of them standing in the void once again. “Do you understand now?”

As Steve stood back up, he responded with, “I guess. Don’t you think kind of messed up? That someone has to get hurt when they do something right? ”

“That is the harsh truth. A truth that you needed to know, doing good in the world like this must require us to take risks, even if it’s at the cost of our lives. I could not see that when I was alive and my cowardness had led me to my death.” 

What Unkar said didn't sit well with Steve.“Then why did the amulet choose me?” He asked, his voice wavering. “I never took the time to do anything good for someone for so long. Why would it expect me to be capable of even being that brave?” Steve didn’t realize how much the words he was spouting out would hurt him.

“It wasn’t the amulet that chose you, rather you’re fleshbag friend.” Steve held his breath and looked at the spirit with a confused daze. 

“Are you serious?” 

“I have no reason to lie trollhunter.” Unkar said as reassurance.

Steve ran his fingers through his hair, choosing to ignore the spirit calling Lake his “friend” again. “That makes even less sense. He could have just picked his friends then. Why me? I’m not qualified to be a hero. I...I don’t deserve to be given this.” 

“Your friend knew you before you took the wrong path. What’s to say he didn’t see that there was still good in you after all these years?” The blonde teen narrowed his eyes at Unkar.

“I told you, he’s not my friend, and I have no idea what you’re talking about with your cryptic ghost talk and all.” Steve remarked with a low voice. How would Lake want to be friends with someone who tormented him for years?

“No one is ever born evil trollhunter.” Steve blinked once, and Unkar and void were replaced with what looked like a playground. 

His surroundings were blurry and faded. As if he was inside a badly done watercolor painting, and yet Steve had a feeling of familiarity. Something in his gut told Steve that he’s been here before, but could not remember no matter how hard he tried. There was an unnatural silence that made Steve incredibly uneasy. All of this just brings more emphasis that none of this was real, at the very least the other memories gave him the illusion that he really was there. 

Steve walked around slowly and cautiously, trying to find the meaning of this memory, and he managed to find it. There was a secluded spot, where it managed to have every detail and aspect of its environment that separated itself from the abstract reality. In this spot were two young boys. One with dark hair who was trying to make something with the bundle of small flowers he had, and the other with blonde hair and was watching attentively, mindlessly fiddling the spare flowers with his hands.

The both of them seemed to be talking to each other, but none of the words came out, the conversation long forgotten. However, the blonde teen could see how happy they were and as he brought himself closer, Steve realized something that shook to his core. One of the little boys just so happened to be him. He then quickly turned toward the direction of the other boy and saw the black messy hair and the ocean blue eyes, there was no doubt in Steve that this was Lake.

But how? Steve had no recollection of this at all. Could he have just simply forgotten about it? No, that can’t be. It’d be absurd for Steve to forget something such as this. To know that someone he’d bully was also someone he was on good terms before in the past. 

The young boy with dark hair hopped up and plopped the entangled flowers onto the head of the blonde teen’s younger self. Steve watched in bewilderment, there was no tension between the two, no hatred, fear, nothing negative of the sort, it was just a heartfelt, innocent moment and nothing else.

 ** _“Whatever happened to that boy?_** ” A voice whispered to Steve’s ear, but it wasn’t Unkar’s, rather an older man he has never heard before. 

The blonde teen glanced at his younger self, who was proudly wearing the flowers on his head. He began to recall an old memory of him coming back home from kindergarten, Steve remembered the moment his father saw him, he was absolutely furious. After that, Steve couldn’t seem to remember what happened next exactly, but rather fragments of it. Someone yelling, a child sobbing, the sharp pain of getting beaten over and over again, the bone-chilling fear that came with it, and the desperation to make it stop no matter what.

As Steve returned to the void, he thought of the day before the car wreck. The genuine smile on Lake’s face when he told him that he’d like to know the real Steve. How on earth did he manage to get his classmate to look at him the same way as all those years ago? The blonde teen sat still staring at his hands with a blank expression, the guilt inside of him building up as he thinks of every time he threw a punch at someone. Then sparks of magic formed in the palm of his hands until it began to form into the amulet of daylight. 

“ _ **James has given you an opportunity.**_ ” The mysterious voice spoke. “ _ **A chance of redemption, this is your chance to prove that that kind boy is still there in you.**_ ” 

* * *

Steve was awakened abruptly as the cage he was in was being lowered. When he looked down, Steve saw the others and Usurna. “I was asleep?” Steve thought, new questions now buzzing through his mind. 

The moment the cage went down, Steve got up quickly as the door was opened for him. Claire noticed how startled he seemed to be and made her way towards him. “Are you alright? Did the guards do anything to you?” 

“Huh? No, I’m.... fine.” He answered, still a bit dazed.

“So?” Usurna asked, “What is your choice, trollhunter?” Her staff slamming gently to the ground. 

The blonde teen glanced down and saw right in front of him the amulet on the floor. As he picked it up, Steve began to think about his sort-of-maybe- dream, the mysterious voice echoing in his head. He then looked at his classmates. Steve could see how the two were bracing themselves for anything really.

“I....” Steve hunched over, closing his eyes shut. He thought as long and hard as he could, before taking a deep breath and finally straightening himself up with confidence. “ I’m going to keep the amulet.” Steve held the amulet close to his chest and then managed to summon the armor without saying the incantation.

Claire, Toby, Blinky, and Aaarrrgghh looked at the trollhunter in surprise, then was replaced with smiles. “Really?” Toby wondered.

“Y-yeah. If it’s the thing that can kill the evil troll you told me, then I guess it’s worth fighting for.” 

“So be it trollhunter.” Usurna raised her right hand and gestured to Steve towards the prison’s exit. As Steve walked past the troll, he heard her say, “Your trial awaits.” 

Claire placed her hand on Toby’s shoulder with a determined expression. “See? I told you he wasn’t going to give it away.” 

The redhead placed his hand to his hips and shook his head, his smile still present. “Yeah, I suppose you were right.” Toby began to think that perhaps there was more to Steve than just being a typical bully, but his doubts still lingered. He could only hope that what Steve told him at the hospital would be true in the long run.

“Don’t celebrate just yet you two. We still need to convince the Tribunal that Steve is not guilty, which I shall tell right now that it will not be an easy feat.” Blinky reminded the two teens. 

With the others following behind, Steve walked through trollmarket. Hoping with all his might that he made the right decision. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally. This took longer than I expected but it's here. Figuring out what Steve's "unbecoming" was tricky since I couldn't use the fake time travel scenario Jim had to go through since he's been a trollhunter for a few days. And I had fun writing the flower scene to the bois when they were younger, too bad I ruined it with angst (and I shall continue doing so in a future chapter >:3). Anyways, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you guys in a month or so.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this started off as a simple au, but as time went on it derailed into a canon divergent au. I wanted to write this fic because always wanted to make some content for this ship but my ape brain wouldn't let me. Anyways, updates may be spotty but WHATEVER! I'm a very busy person and organizing a schedule is not my strong suit.


End file.
